


Apartments on a List

by virfujiwara



Category: LazyTown
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-09
Updated: 2018-09-27
Packaged: 2018-10-16 16:48:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 46,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10575423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/virfujiwara/pseuds/virfujiwara
Summary: I'd like to thank my friends' support, especially afaebae, and also to credit a very nice individual, morgan-animations, because I used their headcanon names for Bobby, Tobby and Flobby! (with their permission, of course!) and Lowkey's ringtone idea!





	1. Chapter 1

 

It was a calm day for a Friday, but it was a calm city for a city. The neighborhood had lots of buildings, or so Stephanie thought. It really didn't have that many buildings and they weren't big constructions like the ones in other cities but she had never been in a big city. It was a small and cute place and Stephanie was visiting her uncle after school. She enjoyed spending time with her uncle and was glad when her parents told her she’d be staying there for the weekend, last time she'd been there she hadn't had any time to explore.  

The sunlight shone through the taxi's window, only to be obscured by the peculiar shadows of the buildings. It was almost time for lunch and uncle Milford was probably cooking something special. Stephanie got out of the taxi, her backpack strapped in one shoulder. A delivery guy was waiting with a package at the entry of the building. She walked to the front door but then she remembered ‘ _I forgot the keys on the table! Oh, now what? I'll have to tell Uncle Milford on the intercom_.’ and she was about to do so when someone opened the door. It was a tall man, probably around his thirty's, carefully dressed. He looked at Stephanie with wonder and with an air of disdain in his features. He finally let her in and she thanked him. As she walked to the stairs, instead of the elevator, she looked back at the tall man receiving the package, taking mental notes on everything she saw and everyone she met. She wondered what he'd ordered. She got quickly to her uncle's apartment, since it was on the first floor, and knocked on the door. A funny looking man opened the door with a smile. “Stephanie!” He greeted. “Hi Uncle Milford!” Stephanie said with a grin as she entered the apartment. The smell of cooked vegetables filled the room. 

 

Robbie was ready to take a nap when he saw his tools on the floor. He went to the sofa and laid down thinking about the elevator…The waiting time was getting longer every day; the maintenance guy hadn't done his job. Robbie could do it, but he wasn't going to. ‘ _Those  kids could get stuck in there and they'd scream…_ ’  His thoughts drifted, he was falling asleep. ‘ _…and make noise…_ ’   

Noise. 

Noise was exactly what woke him up. The annoying noise from a lawnmower, **_in the middle of the afternoon?!_** He had _just_ fallen asleep! And now he could hear voices over the lawnmower. ‘ _Who…?_ ’

The girl from before was having a conversation from the balcony with the lawnmower guy that lived on the ground floor, right under his apartment. What was his name? Sporta…Sporta-something. Sportannoying! That's what he was. 

“Mowing your lawn? Well, I'm sleeping! Or at least I was until you decided to wake me up!” Robbie had got up from the sofa and went to the balcony.  

Sportacus turned the lawnmower off. 

“Sorry, what did you say?” 

“That I'm trying to sleep!” 

“Oh, it's you!” Stephanie looked at Robbie. “I didn't know you lived on the same floor as my uncle!” 

“Never mind you, kid” Robbie said, annoyed. “Keep it down!” 

“Sorry, Robbie!” Sportacus apologized with a little smile. “I didn't know you were taking a nap, you are usually at work at this hour!” 

“Did you buy something for work? That's what was in the package?” Stephanie was curious. 

“He bought baking stuff online” A voice came from the second floor. “From _En Fin de Journée._ They buzzed me first, thinking I was Robbie. I know the shop. Miss Busybody wanted me to help her with an automatic blender but I was busy. She says it's useless, it broke instantly, you know?” 

“That's because she doesn't know how to use them!” Robbie became exasperated “Mind your own business, kid!” 

A head appeared over the balcony's handrail to look at Robbie with disbelief. 

“Oh, hi there!” Stephanie said cheerfully. 

“Hi! New in the building?” the boy said. 

“Staying for the weekend. I'm Stephanie!”  

“Pixel, at your service!” 

“Pixel? Cool!” She smiled to herself.  ' _Sportacus, Robbie, and Pixel_ '. She didn't want to forget those names so she repeated them with mental pictures of them.  

“Sorry again, Robbie! I'll go ask you first for the next time!” Sportacus waved at Robbie as the tall man rolled his eyes and got back inside to his comfy sofa. 

 

 

Stephanie managed to convince her uncle to let her explore the building when he was leaving for work. She was planning on visiting Pixel's apartment but she got another idea on her mind as she walked out the door. She looked at her watch, it was a reasonable hour. She knocked on Robbie's door with energy until he opened it. Robbie was surprised for a second. 

“So, you bake?” Stephanie asked. 

“No.” The door was shut in her face. 

Stephanie was a bit disappointed in that answer but she didn't mind that much. She went to Pixel's apartment, but Pixel didn't open. Instead, another kid did. 

“Who are you?” the boy asked. 

“I'm Stephanie!” She looked merrily at the little boy, he was probably around her age, maybe a bit younger.  “Nice costume!” 

“Thanks!" The little boy's eyes lit up when she said that "I'm Ziggy! Nice to meet you, Stephanie!” He gave her the most genuine smile she ever saw. 

“Does Pixel live here?” she asked looking inside the apartment. “I thought he did.”  

And she was right. A voice came from another room. 

“Ziggy! Who is it?”  

It was Pixel’s voice! 

“If it's Trixie, let her in!” It appeared that Pixel was talking absent mindedly. 

“It's me; Stephanie!”  

“Oh, hi Stephanie! Come on in!” Pixel shouted from inside. 

Pixel was in his room, playing videogames, it looked like he just beat a record. Ziggy led Stephanie inside. 

“No one ever beat Pixel on a videogame, especially when it comes to sports videogames. He's really good at those!” Ziggy explained “Wanna try?” 

“Uh, I'm not really good at videogames.” Stephanie admitted “I lost practice.” 

“That's okay!” Pixel said, turning around from the screen. Screens, in plural, actually. “We can do something else. Trixie has good ideas.” 

“Trixie’s ideas are always like playing ring and run and we always get in trouble! They always get me because I'm always last!” Ziggy complained. 

“Who's Trixie?” Stephanie wondered.  

“She is coming over, you'll meet her soon!” Pixel looked at his wrist watch, it was basically a little computer! 

The intercom rang. Trixie had brought pizzas and she couldn't open the door so the three of them went out to help her.  

Stephanie was introducing herself when Ziggy closed the door by accident. 

“Oh! Ziggy!” they screamed in unison when they turned at the sound of the door against the frame. 

“Does anyone have a key?” Stephanie asked worriedly. 

"I left mine right there!" Pixel pointed out to the dressoire behind the glass door. 

“ _I_ have a key!” Another boy said loudly. He had lots of bags on his hands. They ran close to him, relieved, now that they had a way back into the building. The boy stepped back. He had a horrified expression on his face. 

“You want to take my stuff away, don't you?” he said, defiant. “Well you can't have it! It's mine!” 

“Stingy!” Pixel shouted “We don't want your stuff, we just want to get in!” 

“Oh, hi Pixel! I didn't recognize you.” He looked at them for a second. “Okay, fine.” 

Stingy opened the front door and they all went inside the building. Stingy went up to the elevator but Stephanie called him. 

“You live on the building too?” 

“Uh…Yeah, I own it.” He looked back at them. He didn't move, he just stared at them. 

“What? Want a slice?” Trixie said while getting a slice of pizza for her. “My dad makes the best pizza in town.”  

“Isn't it too early for pizza?” Pixel exclaimed, looking back at Trixie as he grabbed his keys. 

“Bite your tongue! It's never too early nor too late for pizza; pizza is perfect for every hour of every day!” 

“I think you're exaggerating a bit, Trixie!” Stephanie looked at her in disbelief that it could be possible to eat pizza every day like that. 

“Oh, I agree with Trixie” Ziggy said “but I think that right now I'd prefer something sweet.” 

Stingy got close to them. 

“So, what you got there, Stingy?” Pixel asked looking at the bags from different stores. 

“Umm…I've got my movies for today, my movies for tomorrow, my movies for the day after tomorrow and for the day after tomorrow's tomorrow  and some popcorn. Sweet popcorn, salted popcorn, flavored popcorn and soda.” 

“Cool! Can we watch them with you?” Stephanie asked. 

“Uh, Stingy doesn't share…” Pixel said loud enough for Stingy to hear. 

“I-I do s-share!” it looked like it was physically hard for Stingy to say the word share, but he said it anyways. “If you give me that pizza.”  

“We're all eating the pizza, genius! That's sharing” Trixie said to Stingy. 

It was settled. It was a great idea to visit Pixel! 

“Ugh, why is _my_ elevator _not coming_!?” Stingy sighed. “Do you think we'll have to use the stairs?” 

“What's wrong with the stairs?” Stephanie asked as they patiently waited for the elevator. “I always use the stairs.” 

“The stairs are not wrong if you live on the first floor but _I_ live on the last floor!” Stingy explained. 

“So you live on the penthouse!?” Trixie asked with astonishment. 

“Yeah, it's _mine_.”  

“Well, we could always go to mine or Pixel's apartment, I mean my uncle's apartment!” Stephanie suggested. 

“Yeah! Let's go over to Pixel's apartment!” Trixie agreed. 

And so they were going up the stairs until… 

“Wait!” Ziggy startled everyone “Do you smell that!?”  

Everyone else didn't smell anything, but Ziggy apparently did. 

“I smell it…” He went up first into the first floor corridor. “It's cake!” 

“Cake?” they asked a bit skeptical about it. 

“Yes, cake!” Ziggy's stomach decided that he was hungry and needed that cake.  

“Robbie!” Stephanie pointed “It has to be!” 

“Yeah…but is not a good idea to bother Robbie” Pixel tried to warn. 

“You said cake” Stingy stepped forward. “Can I have it? I want it.” 

Stingy went up to Robbie's door. “That cake has to be mine.” 

Stephanie and Pixel tried to stop him but it was too late. He'd already knocked on the door.  

Robbie answered the door, with full regret on his face. He rolled his eyes and let out a long sigh before asking a displeased “What?” 

Stingy looked up at him and opened his mouth. “That cake you're baking…It's mine.” 

“What!?” This time it was a confused ‘what’. 

Ziggy started guessing the cake's ingredients correctly and that startled and distracted Robbie, at least long enough for Stingy to start getting inside his apartment. 

“Well, this apartment is definitely not mine!” Stingy said at loud. It was really messy! It wasn't just messy, really, it was a disaster zone. Papers were scattered across the floor, a few mugs piled together over a little table in front of the sofa. Boxes all over the place. Books placed in different areas of the "living room" that was combined with the dining room. The only clear space was the kitchen area, and that was where the sweet aroma came from. 

“Hey, kid! Outta here!” Robbie tried to stop Stingy. 

“Not until I have that cake.” Stingy pushed him back with a speck of gallantry. 

“Then I'm gonna have to go talk to your parents!” Robbie smirked, thinking that that would work. 

“They're working." Stingy spat out. "They're always working...” His voice became almost quiet when he said that. 

Robbie felt a little sad when Stingy said that. He didn't know if it was because of the way he said it but something made him feel bad for the kid. 

“Oh, mister! Can we try it?” Ziggy asked almost desperate. 

“Please?” They all asked. 

“Wait, is it for someone special?” Stephanie inquired. 

“Yes, it _is_ for someone special. _Me_. Now, **go away**.” Robbie shooed them. 

“We better go guys, we still have the pizza...” Pixel suggested. 

“But it smells delicious! And I bet it tastes delicious!” Ziggy cried out. “If you let us eat a bit of cake we won't bother you anymore!” 

“We won't make noise when you take your naps!” Pixel added. 

“Ugh, fine! But you'll have to be really quiet! Go to sleep or something!” Robbie agreed, “You can have one piece each.” 

Robbie let them in, he wasn't amused by having children in his apartment, he didn't like visits at all, but if they _actually_ kept their part of the bargain he'd be at peace. It was worth it. 

“Ummm...Where do we sit?” Stingy said, standing beside what it looked like a dining table full of papers and wrappings. 

“There, just remove the papers, put them over there.” Robbie indicated. 

While Robbie checked the cake, the kids cleaned up the table. 

“What does ‘resignation’ means?” Ziggy asked, holding a paper on his hand. 

“Don't touch that!” Robbie took the paper out of his hand faster than what anyone could ever think Robbie would move. _(Not really, but he did got there fast.)_  

“Sorry!” Ziggy knew he'd done something wrong but he didn't quite understand what. 

The kids sat down, considerably excited for the cake. It still wasn't decorated, and they wanted to do the decorations themselves _so bad_ but not even Trixie dared to speak. A few seconds later Robbie was doing the decorations. It was something incredible to watch. Robbie was really good at making cakes and decorating them. They applauded him when he finished. Ziggy was the first to get a piece of it, for Stingy’s dissatisfaction. 

The cake was in fact delicious! And everyone made sure to tell it. They all complimented Robbie for his cake and his awesome skills! It is fair to say that Robbie was pleased. He wouldn't admit it but he was really pleased and you could even say he was happy. 

It was getting late and Trixie had to get back home, even though her dad wouldn't really care if she got late, so everyone thanked Robbie for the cake and said goodbye to him. They were walking down to the ground floor when Ziggy said “I still wonder what resignation means” 

“I think it's like quitting.” Pixel said “I could check it online.” 

“Quitting what?” Trixie wondered. "Smoking?" 

“I don't know but the internet tells me anything I want to know.” Pixel said pointing at his watch with a little smirk. 

“Well, I don't fully trust your internet, Pixel. I prefer to trust real people.” Stephanie said. 

“But real people are the ones that put stuff on the internet!” Pixel mantained. 

“Let's go ask Sportacus! He's an adult, he'll know!” Stephanie said with a smile. 

“Fine…” Pixel agreed. 

And so they went to pay Sportacus a visit before Trixie had to go home. Ziggy was staying with Pixel so they weren't in a hurry. 

“Hi Sportacus!” they said joyfully. 

“Hi kids!” He greeted them with a big smile. “I see that you made new friends, Stephanie!” 

“Yes!” Stephanie confirmed with a bright smile. 

“Woah, your place is neat! Nothing like Robbie's!” Trixie said as she had a look inside Sportacus’ apartment. 

“Thanks, I guess!” He laughed a bit. 

“Sportacus, we wanted to ask you something.” Stephanie spoke up. 

“Sure! Anything!” 

“What does resignation mean?” Ziggy asked. 

“As in a resignation letter? It's when you quit your job, you send a letter to your boss when you want to quit…Why?” Sportacus scratched his neck for a second. 

“Robbie had one of those! Does that mean he doesn't have a job anymore?”  Stephanie said in a bit of a preoccupied tone. 

“He didn't look worried about it…but if he sells his cakes he'll be fine. They're so good!” Ziggy said. “Have you tried them, Sportacus? They're super sweet and tasty!” 

“I-I haven't. Did you say Robbie's unemployed?” A moment of realization passed through Sportacus’ mind.  “Then that's why he was home yesterday!” He frowned “What could possibly make him quit his job!?” 

“You should ask him! He won't tell us…But you are friends, right?” Stephanie got the wrong idea, they weren't friends at all. They were barely neighbors. “He'll tell you if you ask him and you can decide to tell us or not.” 

“Uh…Okay, sure! I will!” Sportacus was actually curious about the whole thing, he wasn't going to bother explaining the fact that he and Robbie didn't get along, mostly because they just didn't know each other, when he could help him if he was in front of a bad situation. After all, helping people out was one of Sportacus’ best traits. 

“And if there's something we can do, we'll do it! We need to thank him for the cake anyways!” The kids liked Robbie, despite his cranky manners. “We could make him a cake of our own! Or something that he likes!” 

Sportacus saw the excitement the kids had. Of course, it could be because of the sugar… 

“Would you help us? Uncle Milford isn't really good with this kind of things. He's a bit goofy and a bit jumpy. He'd worry too much to handle, but if you helped us he wouldn't worry that much!” Stephanie let out a little giggle. 

“I-I… We should ask your uncle first but… I guess I will!” Sportacus laughed a bit. 

“I have _my_ ingredients for the cake.” Stingy pointed out. 

“We should start tomorrow morning! I have to leave in the evening.” Stephanie announced. 

 “Do you really have to leave?” Ziggy asked, a bit sad for the news. “You'll come back to visit, right Stephanie?” 

“Of course I will, Ziggy!” Stephanie smiled sweetly. “ Right now, if it were up to me, I wouldn't leave at all!” 

“See you tomorrow, Sportacus!” The kids waved at him. 

“See you, kids!” Sportacus said as he closed the door. 

They were off to walk Trixie to the door and said goodbye. Trixie left the pizzas for them, she had plenty at home. She'd just cook something for her and tuck herself to sleep, that was her plan for when she got home…A bit gloomy without her friends. 

Stingy didn't know what to do. For the first time he hadn't watched his daily movie! He'd have to reschedule it for tomorrow and so. He gave Trixie his soda, a bit surprised at himself and went back to his apartment. The elevator took it's time. His parents still weren't home, still working. 

Pixel and Ziggy walked Stephanie back to her uncle's apartment. She got there just a bit before uncle Milford did and she told him everything that happened today and what was planned for tomorrow. Pixel and Ziggy went back to Pixel's apartment to play videogames before dinner. Pixel won. 

Robbie had already washed the dishes and he was preparing a cup of coffee. 

Sportacus was eating dinner. He finished it quite quickly. 

While washing the dishes he looked through the open window. He liked the city. He thought about tomorrow. He couldn't refuse to help the kids, and there wasn't a reason to say no. He didn't have plans for tomorrow. He was pretty lonely, the neighbors were pretty nice and he knew them all. But not really, he didn't actually know them. He didn't have any friends, at least not nearby. Even if he didn't look like it, he was shy by nature. He loved people but he didn't mind staying in his home. He loved to go outside but his reasons to go outside weren't usually to meet people. His coworkers liked him enough. He was happy with his job. He wondered why Robbie would just quit his job, maybe he could help, but he didn't want to meddle, well, he kinda did but... He didn't have any right to get into Robbie's life decisions…Yet he promised the kids he would ask. They thought they were friends, maybe Robbie didn't hate him. Maybe he was already sleeping. It was preferable to write a note, that way, Robbie could read it any time that would work for him and it wouldn't be an inconvenience. 

He grabbed a pen and paper. What would he write? ‘Hi, neighbor! Did you quit your job?’ No. ‘Are financially stable?’ Wow, that sounds pretentious. ‘Are you okay?’  

«Hi Robbie: 

                   Are you okay? Can we talk for a bit? 

                                                                 Sportacus, G.F. A» 

That sounds good enough. He could explain himself better later. Tomorrow. _'The kids are worried, or they just want to know. What else do you like besides cake? The kids want to do something for you.'_  

Thoughts appeared on his mind as he made his way to Robbie's apartment with the note. He'd figure something. 

He got to his door and he was trying to put the paper under it. It was kinda hard. There was something blocking the paper’s way in. Probably a carpet. 

Robbie saw the paper trying to get in. Someone was trying to leave a message. He went to the door and opened it which made Sportacus jump a bit, he wasn't expecting Robbie to be awake, he didn't see the lights on but that was because there was a carpet under the door indeed and that stopped the light from coming out. 

He looked up at Robbie a bit nervous, as if he was caught doing something wrong. 

“What do you want?” Robbie asked. 

“Umm” he had to think of something reasonable to say. “I needed to talk to you, I promised the kids I would.” 

“So they went to bother you too, huh?” Robbie smirked “I never took you for the stay-up-late guy.” 

Robbie was right, Sportacus was already in bed by this hour. 

“They said nice things about you, and they were worried.” Said Sportacus, fiddling with the paper. 

“Everyone's got opinions, worried about what?” Robbie was standing against the doorframe. 

“Your life, maybe? They told me that you're planning on quitting your job.” Sportacus stopped fiddling with the paper and quietly holding it in one hand. 

Robbie was in between saying ‘what's it to you’ or telling him the truth. He hadn't told anyone, he didn't exactly know why, he didn't want to share it, as much as he wanted to shout it to the four winds. 

“I actually…I already quit my job. What Ziggy read was a little reminder, it was my first draft. Resignation letters are not as easy as they seem. I'll probably put that thing on a frame later on.” He said it. For the first time. 

“But why would you do such a thing?”  

“What? Is it too much? A glass cabinet would work better? Or maybe I should just build up an altar for it. I thought a fancy frame was the best option.” 

“No! I meant quitting your job! Why would you do that?” 

“Well, I didn't feel like doing that anymore. I miss naps. I  just wanted to quit!” 

“Just like that?! And now what?” Sportacus was shocked “You can't-“ 

“Oh, but I can. I'm rich!” Robbie smiled widely, pointing his finger up. 

“There will be a point where you'll be financially broke, Robbie!” 

“But until then I’m rich, Sportaloon.” 

“If you're rich then why do you live like this?” 

“Like what?” 

“Your apartment looks like an abandoned paper factory!” 

“Paper mill, not factory.” Robbie corrected him. 

“Robbie!” 

“Oh, come on! It's not _that_ bad! I can clean it up any time I want. And I don't go around telling you how to live _your_ life.” 

“Our lives depend on each other. I mean, I can't mow my lawn if you're sleeping and you can't have a party if you don't let me know first.” Sportacus defended himself. 

“I never throw parties.” Robbie said. 

“Well, someone on the building does.” 

“Yeah, I think that it's that tall kid from the third floor.” Robbie looked up, thoughtfully. 

“The third floor!? Wow, that's loud…I mean, no! That's not where I'm going!” 

“Well, explain yourself better or just get to the point!” 

“I-I…” He didn't know why he cared so much. It's not his life…But it's someone else's. 

“You…?” Robbie waited. 

“Is that the example you want to give to the kids?” That was the first thing that crossed Sportacus’ mind. 

“I'm not setting any example!” 

“No, you're not.” 

“Look, Sportaloon…My coffee's cold, you're probably tired and I think we should go to sleep. Tomorrow will be a new day…” 

Sportacus sighed, “Yeah, you might be right.” 

“I'm always right.”  

“Sorry to bother you…Can I tell the kids that you quit your job?” 

“They'd make a fuss about it.” 

“It is something to make a fuss about.” 

“As you just did. It's okay, really.” 

“You sure?” 

“Yes, I'm okay and I'll sort out my life, if that makes sense…I lived perfectly until you moved in, well, I always thought you were gonna be really annoying.” 

“The usual compliment.” 

“You're not that bad, you're better than the kid from the third floor.” 

“Mhmm…” Sportacus nodded. 

“At least I stopped trying to kick you out of the building!” 

“Yeah, that's really nice.” Sportacus said ironically, he smiled a bit, it was funny. 

“Go to sleep, Sportaloon.” Robbie said with a sneer. 

“It's Sportacus.”  

“I know.” He closed the door. 

It was Sunday. Stephanie could see the first rays of sunlight through the spare room's window. She had woken up earlier than expected, she could hear the birds' tweets. Beneath the beautiful sky, the city was just waking up, there's almost no traffic, just two buses coming and going, a car, maybe. There were more bicycles than cars in the area anyways, but it looked like everyone else was still sleeping. An orange glow covered the skyline. The sun reflecting on the windows. Stephanie had been waiting for the morning so much that she didn't remember when she fell asleep. She felt rested, at least. A gentle breeze caressed her cheeks contrasting with the warm feeling from the bed. She'd finish her homework until her uncle woke up, so they could have breakfast together. 

Sportacus was also awake. Just because he stayed up a bit longer than expected it didn't mean he would sleep longer than usual. He prepared a smoothie. He had fresh and clean fruits. He cut an orange in half and he squeezed it to extract the juice. He used pears, cherries, strawberries and milk. At last he added some ice cubes. He went outside with the smoothie on his hand, he enjoyed looking up to the morning sky. From Mondays to Fridays he had to go to work around that hour. He'd take his bicycle to the school, he was a PE teacher, he met Stephanie when he took the place of a jury in a small competition, she was really good and she ended up in second place. If she kept practicing she surely could be in a first place.  

Uncle Milford had forgotten about the little cooking meeting that was planned to happen on his apartment, when he remembered he got a little bit nervous but he trusted Stephanie, she was quite responsible for her age. Stingy arrived first, at 8:30 exactly, perfect timing. He was dressed up like a chef and he’d brought the ingredients for the cake. Pixel and Ziggy got a bit later, and Trixie got there a bit late but it didn't matter, things were gonna be perfect. The first time they tried they didn't get it right, nor the second, something was wrong! Uncle Milford called Sportacus for backup. The third time they were making the cake they found the problem. Ziggy was eating some of the ingredients and that's why the cake didn't taste right. You gotta do the cooking by the book! 

Sportacus jogged to the nearest store to buy more ingredients. Stingy established that those ingredients were also his even though Sportacus insisted on paying them himself. 

Uncle Milford and Sportacus took care of the oven. The kids got the decoration part, they were happy with their cake. They bombarded Sportacus with questions. He felt a little overwhelmed but he did a great job answering them. 

They had lunch together. 

Robbie decided to take the trash out. He got on to the elevator. The doors closed, he pressed the button “G.F.” but nothing happened. He pressed it again and this time something happened: The lights turned off. The doors didn't open, he was stuck. He was stuck on the elevator, now that was a great way to start the day, he had woken up just twenty minutes ago. 

“Hello?” He shouted. He didn't have his phone, he never used it so he never took it with him. Sometimes he simply forgot it existed and didn't even charged it, of course, his battery lasted for weeks until it died, he used it for things like checking the weather, his mail and maybe work stuff. Now, that was gone.  

No one answered back and after a while he just dropped down to the floor. He was getting hungry, he didn't drink his coffee last night and that was basically his real dinner, because what he ate wasn't good enough to fill his stomach. All because of that goody two shoes Sportadork. He left a sour taste in it when he left, so to speak.  

After a moment he heard voices coming from the other side, on the corridor.  

“Hello?” He shouted again. 

“Robbie?”  

Oh, great! It was Sportacus’ voice. What was he doing there? Was he going to “visit” him again? Oh, it didn't matter. He could help. Hopefully. With any luck… 

“I'm stuck.” Robbie said, finally. 

“What?” 

“The elevator. It's stuck. It won't open.” 

“Hold on for a minute.” 

“Well, I'm not going anywhere. You should call someone or-“ 

What? The doors were opening. What in the world? How did he-? Sportacus was single handedly opening the stuck elevator doors. 

“Can you get out?”  

“Uh, yes.” 

Unbelievable. He held the doors open with his feet and helped him up with one hand. 

“Thanks.” Robbie was astounded. 

“You're welcome. Are you okay?”  

He acted as if what he just did wasn't impressive in the slightest. It didn't even look like he was acting! 

“Y-Yes.”  

The kids got out to check what was going on.  

“What were you doing on the elevator?” Sportacus asked. 

“What?” It was a weak what. 

“What were you doing in there?” He pointed at the elevator. 

Robbie straighten himself up. “What do you think? Going down!” He was back to his usual self. He picked up his trash bag. “If I don't take the trash out now I'll forget about it forever.” 

“Why didn't you leave in the floor’s trash can?” 

“The garbage man wasn't coming lately. I was going to leave it outside.” 

“And you had to use the elevator to go down one floor?” Stingy made a comment. 

“Must be sick.” Robbie continued, completely ignoring Stingy. 

“Or maybe he quit his job, inconveniencing everyone.” Sportacus interrupted. 

“You always turn things against me!” 

“Says the guy who did everything to kick me out of the building!” 

“Oookay” Stephanie got in between them. “Robbie! It's great that you are here! We have something for you!” 

“Yes, and Sportacus woke up early to help us! Isn't that right?” Trixie added. 

“He always wakes up early.” Robbie said sharply. 

“Ok then. We woke up early too!” Pixel said proudly. 

“You shouldn't have.” 

“Aww, well…It's nothing!” Stephanie smiled. 

“No, really, you shouldn't have.” 

“Oh Robbie! Why do you act so bitter when we've seen you smile!” Stephanie looked up at him. “You're not so grumpy!” 

“Yeah, I didn't think that was possible!” Pixel exclaimed. Trixie gave him a nudge. 

Ziggy got out of the apartment with the cake. He stumbled ridiculously into nothing. The cake flew off his clumsy little hands. It all happened in slow motion. 

Stingy said “He dropped it.” With a facepalm. 

Yet Sportacus was faster than gravity itself and catch both Ziggy and the cake. 

Everyone was amazed by his agility.  

“That was amazing!” the kids were thrilled. 

Robbie didn't understand why would they go the extra mile to do something for him. He couldn't reject their invitation, so he ate the cake without complaints. It was cake! 

“Fluffy.” He said when he finished his plate. Cake crumbs were all that was left of that special cake. “I'm surprised.” 

He smiled a bit, just a little bit but that was enough reward for the kids.  

Ziggy had had two pieces of the cake, when he finished, Sportacus told him that too much sugar was bad for him. 

“Let the kid live a little!” Robbie smiled a bit, he couldn't help himself. He was happy. Nobody ever did something so nice to him. 

“Cake is good sometimes…” Sportacus said. 

“More like always…” Robbie smirked. 

“Oh, my!” Milford looked at the clock in the wall. “Stephanie! You should prepare your bags!” 

“Oh yes!” Stephanie ran to her room. 

“I better go fix that elevator. At least a bit, until the maintenance guy shows up.” Robbie stood up. 

“Need a hand?” Sportacus stood up too. 

“No.” Robbie didn't want his help. He was good at repairs. He went to the door. “Thanks for the cake, I'll be outside…” And he went to look for his tools. 

“Well, it's good to have someone to fix that thing.” Stingy said. “I would hate to use the stairs.” 

Uncle Milford helped Stephanie with her backpack. They were going outside to say goodbye to Stephanie. Robbie was on the floor mumbling things to himself on an angry tone. He definitely needed help with the doors.  

“I'll open the doors, you go say goodbye to Stephanie. I'll be there in a minute.” Sportacus looked down at Robbie.  

“You think I can't do it?” Robbie looked angry at him. 

“I don't doubt your skills as a repair man slash engineer…But I know that those doors are not easy to open.” 

“Fine. Whatever.” Robbie got up and went with the others. Agh! He had to use the stairs. 

Sportacus smiled at his walk. He was funny, or at least he made him laugh. 

Everyone was a bit sad watching Stephanie leave. They knew she would be back to visit, probably next weekend. She was going to ask for permission to her parents, they wouldn't say no. Still, nobody likes these heartwarming goodbyes, it's like you'll never see each other again. Stephanie had so much fun she barely did her homework. Pixel and Stingy offered to help her. Trixie told her she needed to relax and just have fun. Robbie promised to make her a welcome cake when she came back. Sportacus told him that sugar was bad for health. Robbie told him he had a sweet tooth and that the cake was for Stephanie. Stephanie hugged her uncle and she got in the cab. They went back inside. Stingy had to walk up the stairs. Sportacus helped Robbie to fix the elevator.  

“Well, it's done. It's only temporary but at least it's something.” Said Robbie, cleaning his hands a little.  

“You did a good job, Robbie.” Sportacus said. 

“I know. You too.” He had to admit it. Even if he didn't like it. 

“I think it's time for me to go back to my apartment…See you.”  

“Yeah, see you...” Robbie went up to his apartment door. “Wait.” 

Sportacus was going to the stairs when Robbie called him. 

“Coffee?” Robbie asked, he was irritated at himself because that wasn't something he would usually do but he just felt he had to. 

“That'll keep me up.” Sportacus said softly. 

“Coffee doesn't work like that! Not with me at least…” Why was he insisting on this? It didn't make any sense! 

Sportacus thought about it for a second. Robbie was being nice, or at least he was trying. 

“Fine…A tiny cup.” He said, walking back towards Robbie. 

“Tiny it is.” Robbie took the keys out of his pocket to open his apartment's door. He pushed the door with one arm, the other holding his tools. Robbie entered and Sportacus followed. 

The apartment was still filled with papers and old wrappers even though the kids had cleaned up a bit the other day. 

“Sorry for the mess.” Robbie didn't understand why he was apologizing. It was his apartment, who cared if it was a bit messy. Well, a lot messy. 

“It's okay.” Sportacus smiled. He guessed that if he was apologizing, it meant he wasn't planning on having visits. 

Robbie was preparing the coffee. He’d left the kitchen's window open. “It always gets cold in the evening.” He said absent minded. 

“Yes, even if it’s hot during the day.” Sportacus added to Robbie's comment. “I prefer the cold weather.” 

Robbie turned around to look at Sportacus. 

“I never got around to ask you something…”  

“What?” 

“Your accent. Icelandic?” He said it as if he already knew the answer. 

“How did you know?” Sportacus was marveled. 

Robbie could have simply said he read his last name and that that made him sure about it. 

“My father was from Iceland. Married mom for the money. I was born there, raised around here.” 

“What are the odds?” Sportacus said with a heart melting smile. He was excited, he never expected to meet anyone from his home so near him. “Where exactly are you from?” 

“Hafnarfjarðarkaupstaður” It rolled out of his tongue as if he hadn't miss practice, but he actually had. 

“Fifty miles from my hometown; Borgarnes.” Sportacus said proudly, he loved his hometown. 

“Do you miss it?”  

“Sometimes, yes. But I like this place. The city.” 

“I get it, it's unique.” Robbie turned around to look out the window. 

“Hey, do you remember the owl that lived on your balcony? It's still around.” Sportacus didn't know what to say, so he changed the subject. 

“Really? I hated that poor bird.” 

“Really? I call him Who-Who.” 

Robbie laughed. “Great name. It suits him.” 

A look of astonishment came into Sportacus’ face when he heard Robbie's laugh, something that he had only heard in an ironic way until now. He was lucky that Robbie couldn't see him at the moment. 

The coffee was almost done and Robbie took a little piece of cake. He offered it to Sportacus. 

“More cake?” Sportacus grinned. “I couldn't possibly eat that, not even for all the gold in the world.” 

“Didn’t think so.” Robbie commented, mostly to himself. “It's because I made it, isn't it?” he said dramatically, just for fun. 

“No, it's because sugar can affect your health.” Sportacus said playfully and seriously at the same time, if that's possible. 

“Mhm…” Robbie murmured as he looked for a jar that was filled with leftover whipped cream. 

“I can make a list.” Sportacus said, looking a bit worried about Robbie's ”excess” on sweet stuff. 

“A list?”  

“Yes, a list telling you how sugar can affect your health.” 

“Fine, you do that, Sportadork.” Robbie opened the cabinet above the sink to look for the sugar. “I assume that you don’t want sugar in your coffee.” He passed him his coffee. 

“Right. Thanks.” He gently took the coffee. 

They talked for a while, remembered  lots of things that happened in the building, even before Sportacus arrived.  

“Do you mind?” Robbie went up to the radio.  

Sportacus shook his head in agreement. “No.” 

“I have trouble sleeping sometimes, this radio station is perfect. And no, it's not because of the coffee.” 

Sportacus had opened his mouth to say something but Robbie had answered already. His lips curled into a smile. “Have you tried counting sheep?” 

“I've tried everything.” 

“Warm milk?” 

“I need something a bit stronger than warm milk.” 

“Wine?” 

“Ha, no. Coffee is fine. Coffee is the best thing to ever happen.” 

Sportacus took the last sip of the coffee. It was good. But if he was gonna drink something with caffeine he preferred tea. 

They were in silence for a while. The radio station working as a soothing background sound. 

“I never expected to be inside this apartment, having a cup of coffee and just having a conversation with you that lasted more than a minute.” Sportacus said thoughtfully. 

“Of course you didn't, that's why you live on a building. People who live in apartments don't wanna meet their neighbors.” Robbie was leaning over the counter. 

“You really think that?”  

“I know that I prefer to be left alone. And that the only exchange of words we have are courtesy good mornings, good evenings and have a nice day, if I'm on a good mood.” 

“We must be pretty lonely people…” Sportacus shrugged awkwardly. 

The room was flooded with the music coming from the radio. ‘Okay it's 12:17am  and this next song is gonna keep you warm on a cold, _cold_ night, so if you don't got a lover just close your eyes and listen to HONNE live on the studio.’ 

“It's past my bedtime…” Sportacus said softly. He looked at his shoes. 

“Yeah…” Robbie nodded. They both had already finished their coffees a while ago. They stood still for a minute. 

“Thanks for the coffee.” He left the empty cup on the sink, right beside Robbie. 

“You're welcome.” Robbie looked down at his empty cup and left it on the sink too. “I-I'll open the door for you.” 

“Ah, thanks!”  

They went to the door together. 

“Have a good night.” Robbie said, trying to sound sharp, oh, but his face betrayed him. He had a good time. Sportacus didn't feel the need to hide it. 

“You too.” He smiled a wide grin as he left. Hands on his pockets. 

Robbie closed the door. He stood still behind it. 

The radio was still on _‘Yeah you can keep me warm on a cold night’_  

Robbie rubbed his eyes. He felt tired all of the sudden. He sat on his sofa. A while later he was asleep, faster than ever. 

Sportacus couldn't sleep. He had had just a little, but he was sure it was because of the coffee. He stayed awake for an hour, shoving thoughts at the back of his head until he fell asleep. The next day he got a little bit late to work, no one noticed or they just didn't care. It was a boring day for the first time. At the afternoon Sportacus went to leave something at Robbie's apartment.  

“What's this?” Robbie asked looking at the piece of paper that Sportacus gave him. 

“I told you I'd make you a list.” Sportacus was quite proud. 390 words.  

“Sugar can depress the immune system.” Robbie started reading. “Sugar can contribute to hyperactivity, anxiety, depression , concentration difficulties, and crankiness in children. You know that I'm not going to read all of this.”  

“Still, that's for you.” Sportacus crossed his arms. “It was a boring day at work.” 

“Huh, I thought you never got bored...Sugar can cause drowsiness and decreased activity in children.” He read a bit more. 

“I don't get bored if I'm moving.” 

“Really, who would have thought…” Robbie said ironically.  

“Anyways, I gotta leave. I promised I'd help Mr. Meanswell with some boxes.” 

“Mister? He's not that old, is he?” Robbie wondered.  

“I actually don’t know… I think it'd be disrespectful not to call him Mister…He reminds me of one of my teachers. He's definitely younger than him, though.” 

The week passed fast. Weekend was at the door. And so were some news. 

It was Thursday. Milford Meanswell was talking over the phone with his niece. 

“Mrs. Busybody? Isn't that the lady you like, Uncle?” Stephanie asked. She had the best intentions in the world. She wanted to help her uncle with Mrs. Busybody and he needed all the help he could get, really. 

“Oh, you know that I care about her, Stephanie. Yes, Mrs. Busybody wanted me to tell you about a contest that will be held next week.” 

“A contest? That sounds interesting! What's it about?” 

“It looks like it's a cake contest. The winner will get to serve a cake for a big company. They want to find a ‘diamond in the rough’. I told Mrs. Busybody she was a diamond already and that she'll be noticed quite easily! And I told her that we would be there to support her! Everyone gets a say in this!” 

“But Uncle! What about Mr. Rotten? He'll surely participate in the contest and we all love his cakes!” 

“Oh my! I hadn't thought about that!” 

“But how does this work? The contest and the voting?” 

“Oh, emmm… Every contestant makes cakes for the week and people try them, when you enter the pedestrian precinct you get a bracelet that counts as a vote. You press it on the screen and your vote is counted.” 

“So we can't vote for the two of them!” 

“Oh, I love Mrs. Busybody's cakes, specially the vanilla cake. I can't vote for Mr. Rotten!” 

“And I haven't tried Mrs. Busybody's cakes…This will be rough. Well, luckily I won't have school tomorrow so I'll be there first thing in the morning, uncle.” 

If someone were to describe Uncle Milford the first word that comes to mind was naïve, maybe clumsy. He was a funny guy, hard working and he wouldn't hurt a fly. And he had fallen for Mrs. Busybody, awhile ago, to be fair. He only has eyes for her and he would do _**anything**_ for her.


	2. Chapter 2

The first thing Stephanie did when she got to her uncle’s apartment was visiting Pixel. They talked about the contest, Pixel wasn’t that much of a cake guy so they called Ziggy, he’d be the best judge. The whole gang got together after a while. Stephanie, Pixel, Ziggy, Stingy and Trixie. They went up to Robbie’s apartment.  

Robbie didn’t want to have anything to do with any contest.

“But the winner…” Ziggy tried to intervene but he was interrupted by Robbie.

“Gets to bake a cake for someone, what a prize!” Robbie snorted.

“But if you win that would mean that you are the best of the best! Chosen among hundreds of people! A diamond in rough!” Pixel commented, trying to convince him.

“Oh, I already know I’m the best, I’m not a diamond in rough! I’m an alexandrite!”

“What?” Ziggy asked, he had no idea what Robbie had said. “I thought your name was Robbie!”

“Agh! Ziggy!” Stingy was getting a bit inpatient by the senseless delays on the matter. He also was baffled by Ziggy’s ignorance “Alexandrite is the name of a very rare gem! A diamond is worth nothing compared to an alexandrite!” Stingy knew his stuff.

“Ahhh” Ziggy tried to understand.

“Well then, we’ll have to vote for Mrs. Busybody, guys!” Trixie opened her mouth.

“Bessie Busybody?” Robbie flinched “That woman?” He said in an almost disgusted tone.

“Oh, you know her? Yes, she’ll participate.” Stephanie spoke.

“That woman can’t bake! That woman can _barely_ cook!” Robbie didn’t believe what he was hearing.

“I’ve heard that she’s really good!” Trixie said.

“Me too.” Everyone nodded in agreement.

“That can’t be right! One time she gave your uncle a cake and he brought it to a meeting…I almost died from how horrible it was!”

“Well, she’s the best in town according to everybody, so I guess she’ll win…” Pixel said thoughtfully. “Maybe if you participated…”

“But no one would go to Robbie’s stand! He’s absolutely-eh…” Trixie almost said something that she shouldn’t be saying. “He’s not exactly approachable…”  

“Yes, people need to see that you are friendly.” Stephanie stated.

“ **I’m not friendly.** ” Robbie remarked drily.

“We can help you with that. Does that mean you’re in?” Pixel said.

“I-I…I still don’t want to. But if that woman were to win…Agh! I don’t know why I listen to you! You’re just a bunch of noisy kids!”  

“Gee thanks! And you’re just a cranky old man!” Trixie said annoyed. “Guys, let’s go! And goodbye to you!”

“Oh, okay! I detest that woman far more than I dislike you…” Robbie spit out.

“That’s the nicest thing you’ve said to us! And that’s why you need _my_ help!” Stingy said.

“You focus on the cakes, we’ll help you with your image!” Pixel said. “This is my chance to use my skills and gadgets, that’ll make everything much easier!”

The kids invited Sportacus to the event. Robbie had already signed in. This was gonna be good!

_‘Why? Really, why do I listen to those annoying little brats!?’_ Robbie was exhausted already. He’d been making new recipes for the contest. His head hurt so much he thought he’d have a migraine! He wanted to quit the whole thing but when he was about to do it he remembered Mrs. Busybody. Oh, how much did he despised that woman!? The thought of her winning the contest gave him enough motivation. He was the best, he knew that, but he’d have to prove it to everyone else so she wouldn’t win.  

“We should establish an official meeting place.” Stingy said. He was leaning against the sofa.  

Everyone turned to look at him, Ziggy was in the kitchen so he couldn’t listen to them. They were at Pixel’s apartment.  

“Like a clubhouse?” Stephanie gave him a beaming smile.

“Not quite. What I mean is that this place is messy.” Stingy’s eyebrows twitched. “There are cables everywhere, wrappers, empty bags of chips… _Should I go on?_ ”

“Stingy! Don’t be mean!” Trixie shouted at him.

“I’m not being mean! I’m being **honest!** If _this_ is going to be our meeting place I’d like it to be clean. _At least_ organized!” Stingy crossed his arms and looked to the side with an offended look.

“Well…Maybe it’s a bit unorganized…” Stephanie said softly.

Pixel was just listening. He got up from the sofa and went to his room.

“Ah, see what you did there?” Trixie shot Stephanie and Stingy a glare. “Good job!”

“Oh, stop with that Trixie!” Stephanie got up from the sofa and went after Pixel.

Ziggy came back with sodas for everyone. “What happened?” He said confused as he saw Trixie and Stingy, backs facing each other, angry expressions on their faces.

“Oh, nothing! Just _mister fancy pants_ over there whining about everything!” Trixie expressed herself. _‘He has no idea…and he dares to be disrespectful! What does he know about mess!? He lives in a place surrounded by gold! ‘_

Stingy wasn’t going to apologize. He just said what he thought and even Stephanie agreed.

A moment after, Pixel and Stephanie came back, they didn’t look angry at all and they had bags and a little thing that looked like a robot.

“Pixel says that we’re all going to clean up the place!” Stephanie said with a wide grin. She felt relieved knowing that her friend wasn’t angry at her, she apologized anyways. “Stingy…” she went up to him with a bag. “Is that okay with you?”

Stingy took the bag. “Perfect! I enjoy cleaning!”

“ _Only you._ ” Stephanie smirked.

“And sorry…” Stingy looked away. “I didn’t mean…Well, _I actually did_ mean what I said but maybe I expressed myself in the wrong way, wrong words maybe.”

“Nah, it’s okay Stingy!” Pixel threw him a pair of gloves. “My mom always tells me to clean up, I had to do it someday. It’ll be a nice surprise for her.”

“Ah, good! Everything’s okay then!” Ziggy smiled widely. “We can drink this after we clean up!” He almost dropped the sodas on the floor. Thankfully, he didn’t.

Everyone helped, especially Stingy, he lead the whole group. He was a true expert at cleaning. With such good organization, the place was squeaky clean in a matter of minutes. They were tired but glad with the final result. Pixel had put his music on to make things easier. The music helped. They sat down in the sofa to rest and drink those sodas. They weren’t icy cold but they were cold enough. A few moments later they were stretched out over the sofa, leaving no room for anyone else.

“Ahhh, we should do this with Robbie’s apartment. That place is really, really messy!” Stingy commented as he took a sip.

“Oh no!” Stephanie sat up straight. “We forgot about Robbie! We’re supposed to help him with his image!”

“We have time. I’ve got everything sorted out.” Pixel reassured her.  

“Yeah, we only need him to lie to everyone.” Trixie said.

“But lying is bad.” Ziggy looked at her.  

“How else is he going to win, then? He’s a grumpy guy by nature, he’s not gonna change his whole self for a little contest!” Trixie stretched out a bit more.

“But he is not bad! Yes, maybe he’s a bit cranky and tired but he’s also funny!” Stephanie added to the conversation.

“And I don’t believe that someone who can bake cakes is someone bad.” Ziggy said, his thoughts drifting ‘Mmmm, cake’.

“But Trixie is right.” Stingy said, with a serious look on his face. “He won’t show his good side willingly, and I’m sure that if he acts nicer, it’s just that; an act… _I_ need to help him with his lies.”

“My plan was to give him an earbud and go full secret agent telling him what to say.” Pixel looked at them pretty serious.

“That is so cool! Great idea Pixel! But I think that a secret agent should already know how to act in these situations.” Trixie said.

“But isn’t that just like lying? No good comes from lying!” Stephanie complained. “I love the idea but I still think that we should give him some advice instead …”

“If you think that it’s dishonest try picturing it like playing pretend.” Pixel spoke.

“Giving advice, it’s a good idea but he probably won’t listen to us.” Stingy said thoughtfully.

“Let’s be secret agents too!” Ziggy said joyfully. “Investigating and giving advice on how adults act!”

“They’re usually boring…” Trixie sighed.

“He’s an adult, he already knows how to act like an adult. He knows how to be an adult.” Stephanie said thoughtfully.

“Does he? My father would disagree. He quit his job! He has no life now!” Stingy gasped.

“Life is not just work, Stingy! But yes, it’s a bit irresponsible to quit your job like that…” Stephanie answered back.

“We should ask help from your Uncle, Stephanie.” Trixie got up from the sofa.

“He’s working and later he’ll meet with Mrs. Busybody…He’s on her team.”

“Oh dang!” Trixie crossed her arms.  

“Maybe Sportacus would like to help? Surely lots of people like him!” Ziggy finished his soda.

“He did agree to come…” Stephanie looked at the door.

“He’s not home yet.” Pixel looked at Stephanie. “He always goes for a jog at this hour. I know everybody’s movements, he has a routine.”

Stingy gave him a judging look.

“What? Sometimes I don’t have anything better to do.” Pixel explained. “Gizmos make everything fast and easy but making gizmos can be hard and slow, so sometimes I have to wait to proceed with the making and I just see what other people do because I don’t know what to do myself.” He shrugged a bit.

“It’s fine.” Stephanie offered him an honest smile. “Besides, if you hadn’t been listening to our conversation last week, we wouldn’t have met. You spend all day locked up in this apartment playing videogames, Pixel.”

“It’s something I’m good at.” Pixel looked down. “Interacting with people is harder and there is no manual…”

“It’s like Sportacus said, all it takes is just a little bit of practice!” Stephanie said. “Anyways, you really are good at being a secret agent too!”

“ _I_ want to be a secret agent too!” Stingy said emphasizing the ‘ _I_ ’ in the sentence.

“If _he_ gets to be a secret agent, so do I!” Trixie stick her tongue out at Stingy.

“I guess that it’s okay! We’ll all be secret agents!” Stephanie laughed a bit.

“And we’ll get super secret agent costumes?” Ziggy was excited about the idea.

“I guess… yeah, why not?” Pixel said.

“Oh goodie! I’ve always wanted to be a secret agent and save the world!” Ziggy was always willing on take on a new adventure.  

“Sportacus will be back home in about ten minutes. He’s never late!” Pixel stated.

“Poor Sportacus! We’re always asking him for help!” Stephanie giggled.

“We should ask him about Robbie’s good traits!” Trixie thought “He probably has at least one!”

“They know each other since a long time! He could probably make a list and then we’d help him improve on them!” Stephanie pointed out.  

They were getting really excited about the whole idea. It was their mission impossible and they couldn’t fail! But time, sometimes, doesn’t mean anything. Yes, Sportacus and Robbie knew each other for a while back but they were just neighbors, merely  acquaintances, the only real talk they had had happened a few days ago, but the kids thought they got along just well.

Sportacus was in his apartment right on time. Not a minute late. And even if he had been jogging he didn’t look exhausted at all!

He was wearing a nice jogging suit, blue being the dominant color of it. It looked like he’d just bought it but he actually had it for a long time.  

He greeted the kids with a smile.  

“I just talked with your Uncle, Stephanie! He was outside with Mrs. Busybody.” Sportacus said as he went up to the kitchen.

“He’s definitely with the enemy then.” Trixie said out loud.

“Mrs. Busybody is not the enemy, Trixie!” Stephanie assured, while looking at her sharply.

“So we’re not going to sabotage her?” Trixie said friskily. At the look of her friends she mumbled ”Fine! It was a joke! Geez! You take everything seriously!” She crossed her arms and looked away with a pouty mouth.

“So, kids…” Sportacus took a sip of water. “What do you need?”  

“We need you to make a list for us!” Pixel moved forward.

“A list? About?” Sportacus said.

“Robbie’s qualities!” Stephanie smiled, pointing her finger up.

“Robbie’s qualities?” Sportacus repeated in doubt. “I-I don’t- I don’t know Robbie that well, to be honest…” He had to admit it this time. He scratched the back of his neck.

Stephanie bit her lip. “But, I thought… We thought you got along. You live on the same building! You’re neighbors!”

“Sometimes, things like that don’t matter much. I’d like to be Robbie’s friend but he told me he prefers to be alone. We didn’t start with the right foot, I guess. I still don’t understand what did I do…” Sportacus meant every word. He liked Robbie and he didn’t think it would be hard for them to be friends, but Robbie was stubborn about that. He frowned upon that thought.

“Even if you aren’t friends, you are neighbors. There’s a lot you can figure out about your neighbor just by the way they say hello.” Pixel claimed. “I never see much of Robbie but you two have history.”

History? Did he mean those dumb fights Robbie started to make him leave?  

Sportacus cleared his throat. “Why do you need to know Robbie’s qualities?”

“We are helping Robbie with his image! We’re secret a-agents” Ziggy’s voice was merely a whisper at the end of that sentence because Stingy gave him a glare.

“Good job, Ziggy!” Stingy told him, frowning. “You just exposed yourself _and_ all of us, if you’re not gonna take this seriously…”

“Cut him some slack, Stingy!” Trixie said. “It’s not like we’re not gonna get disguises to be secret agents. It’s just pretend!” Sometimes she’d be the one giving Ziggy a hard time but she didn’t like Stingy’s attitude at all. They bumped heads a lot because of their strong clashing personalities.

Sportacus smiled at the sight. Kids being kids.  

“I’ll try to help you, even if I’m not sure how to.” He said softly. He had a soft spot for the kids, they didn’t need to ask twice.  

“Good! Just write whatever comes to mind” Pixel smiled. “Thank you, Sportacus!”

“Yes, thanks Sportacus!” They all said as they left.

“It’s good to see you out of your apartment more often, Pixel!” Sportacus smiled widely.  

“It’s great to have friends that give you reasons to go out.” Pixel said, waving, as the gang went to the stairs.  

It would be ten times easier for Pixel to hack into a government facility than to make friends. Usually. He’s someone you instantly like, but don’t instantly know. His friends appreciate him, and he cares for them, and that’s mainly why their relationship works.

They don’t want Pixel to change, they like him how he is. Yet, Pixel is changing. He’s changing his habits, for his friends, not that they told him to. He’s changing because that’s what friendship does to you.  

Maybe Robbie’s habits could change a bit too, if he had a friend.

Friendship is good for you, if your friends are the right ones.

If only Robbie wasn’t that **stubborn!** Why exactly did he not want them to be friends? Oh, Sportacus wanted to know the answer. He admitted he didn’t think that bad of him now… He even invited him a cup of coffee, that was really out of character for the usual Robbie that Sportacus saw. Well, not that he thought of Robbie as a guy who wouldn’t invite someone for a coffee, the thing was that Robbie showed himself as a guy who wouldn’t under any circumstances invite you over for a coffee. He wasn’t gonna add stubbornness to the list of Robbie’s good qualities, that’s for sure.

Sportacus had a light dinner. He sat down to think.

The task before him was a difficult one.  

Robbie’s good traits… Robbie’s qualities…

_‘Robbie’s good at baking’_ Sportacus thought, trying to start somewhere. _'But the kids already know that… And it’s more of a skill of his. Well, he has a lot of skills.’_ He felt like a fool while trying to think. _'Robbie… He… He dresses nice?’_ Poor Sportacus didn’t know what to write. _'I guess he’s a blunt guy. I don’t know if that’s good or not but it’s one of his traits.’_

Sportacus had a pen on his hand, the paper on his dining table. He spinned the pen in his hand while trying to think. He was really good at pen spinning.  

_'He’s a funny guy when he wants to.’_ He thought. _'He’s really fast at making up witty phrases. He’s witty._ ’ Sportacus smiled a bit, he liked Robbie’s wittiness. He wrote it down.

_'He’s talented…’_ He’d seen Robbie’s cakes, and when it came to coming up with ideas and making them come true, Robbie excelled. Except on the idea of kicking him out of the building, thankfully. Maybe he didn’t try hard enough. _'He’s a determined guy. And he doesn’t give up easily. What a rival to beat! Poor Mrs. Busybody!’_ He giggled a bit and continued to think. _'He’s smart. He’s hardworking. He’s good with the kids even if he decides to act like he couldn’t care less. He’s capable of laughing unironically.’_ It was easier for Sportacus to think of Robbie’s qualities over the minutes. He had a hard time at the start but it wasn’t hard for him to think nicely of Robbie, despite the history that they had, as Pixel put it.

It was getting late. Sportacus yawned.

_'He’s soft…’_ Sportacus facepalmed himself at that thought. _'He has a soft side’_ He corrected himself, immediately. _'He cares. I don’t know if he’s a caring guy per se but he cares. He’s a guy that cares despite he says he doesn’t. He’s tough.’_ He laughed a bit a that last thought. _'He’s soft and he’s tough.’_

His thought were getting dumber, in a way. He looked at his watch. He should go to bed.

He sighed, getting up from the chair to go to bed, leaving the pen and the paper behind. That writing session was a discovery. He had found a person that he didn’t want to give up to. He didn’t want to give up on the thought of Robbie bonding, of Robbie smiling, of Robbie laughing, and people laughing with him, people laughing because of his witty commentaries.  

Sometimes, Sportacus thought that Robbie didn’t know that other people might just, frankly, like him, and that thought always haunted him. He hated that thought, he hated when someone felt like they didn’t matter, that they simply weren’t enough. He wanted those people to know that that was impossible. Sometimes people who care don’t show it because they probably think that the other person already knows it and that is something as normal as saying 'hello?’ when you answer the phone, but people care. He wanted those people to know that enough is relative, that enough was whatever they did. Enough is what you did, what you did was enough. _'Your whole self is more than enough’_ is what he wanted to say to those people.  

_**'You matter.’** _

He wanted to say that to Robbie, just in case. Yet, he didn’t dare. The guy kept turning his friendship down since he moved in. Every time he tried to get close, to offer a hand, Robbie rejected him. But he never rejected him completely, it was as if Robbie couldn’t decide. That was a hopeful feeling for both.

Sportacus put his pj’s on, brushed his teeth. He was ready to go to sleep.  

Robbie was probably still awake, he could see the lights from Robbie’s apartment. He was probably making himself a coffee, Sportacus thought. And adding a bunch of cream to it, or sugar.  

He was probably listening to that nice radio station, having trouble sleeping.

Quiet.

Robbie was a quiet neighbor. You could never guess what he was doing or if he was even there. Sportacus’ guesses were based on that other night. He wanted to come back to that night and stay there a bit longer, just a bit, so he could figure Robbie out. The information he had wasn’t enough. He also wanted to ask for the radio station, he didn’t quite get the name of it.

Moments later Sportacus was lying down on his bed, the sheets snuggling him. He was looking at the ceiling, trying to imagine what Robbie was up to, he didn’t want to close his eyes just yet but by force of habit, he was already falling asleep. He tried as hard as he could to keep his eyes open for just a bit longer. He yawned, disappointed. He knew he couldn’t fight it for longer. His eyes became heavier by the minute.

It wasn’t fair.

His eyes shut.

He fell asleep.

And he started to dream.

Robbie woke up. He left the radio turned on, and the music was slowly getting through his ears. He yawned, and rubbed his eyes.  

It was a beautiful day, you couldn’t say morning because it was time for lunch, at least for most people, but not for Robbie, this was time for breakfast for Robbie though he rarely ate breakfast.  

He stayed in bed for like an hour, awake but not quite. He didn’t want to get up, God that was too much effort and he was lazy, the simple thought of getting up from his comfortable bed was agonizing.

_'Sunday’_ he remembered. Today was Sunday.

He growled a bit when the thought crossed his mind. _'Tomorrow is Monday’._

It wasn’t like he had to go to work anymore, he didn’t have that burden. He hated his job for many reasons. But he was free, now.  

_'If only!’_

He was tired.

He’d been working on cakes since Thursday. Effort. But at least, he could feast on those cakes. He shared some with the kids, they were good judges; Robbie liked every cake he made. Don’t get it wrong, they loved Robbie’s cakes too, but they had to be good judges for the contest. They were a team despite Robbie’s “dislike” of the idea.  

Robbie had a good dream, he didn’t remember it but the feeling was lingering. Still, that feeling wasn’t a miracle maker, he got up slowly and reluctantly as always. Who could blame him? Sometimes having a nice dream makes you want to stay in bed longer to dream it again. He sat down for a while looking at the light that came from the balcony, he could hear the noise coming from outside. Someone washing dishes, probably a neighbor. He stretched his arms.

The town had been a mess the whole week, people preparing everything for next week, for tomorrow. Even the kids went out to check things out. 

_Annoying._

He went to the kitchen, dragging his feet. He yawned again. He looked at the coffee beans, he wasn’t hungry. He decided to get showered, he needed to go out to buy some things for tomorrow, he’d probably end up asking Sportacus to go out for him. He yawned once more, walking up to the bathroom. He didn’t want to look in the mirror yet so he just washed his face to wake up. He looked for his clothes and turned on the shower. The radio was still on and a good song came so he went up to it and turned the volume up. He sang a bit, he didn’t know the lyrics so it was mostly humming out loud. The ceramic from the tub was cold for his feet, he flinched a bit. But the water temperature made everything better. He sang for a while, he took his time. At first he didn’t want to get showered and now he didn’t want to leave the shower. It was warm and nice after a while.

“Baby, you’re bad, you’re a danger to my health… Say a prayer by myself…”

He sang with his lungs out and he cursed when he got the wrong lyrics.  

“But how can I stay mad when you look like that?”

He got out and did his routine, as always, his hair being the last thing to take care of. The one thing that he would put effort to.  

By the time he was done, he was hungry. He kept singing to the tune coming from the radio while putting something on the microwave.  

He went for his phone, he had a lot of unread messages. He ignored them, and looked directly at the weather forecast.

He went to the fridge with the phone on his hand, he wanted to send a message to Sportacus asking if he was going out today, he knew he went out to jog so he was certain that with his good manners, Sportacus would pass by the supermarket and buy what he needed. The microwave started to make noise indicating that the food was ready for consumption. That startled him a bit. He sent the message and put his phone on his pocket to open the fridge, but something stopped him. He saw a paper.

_'Witty’_ he read.

He didn’t notice that the handwriting from that list was the same handwriting from the other list that informed him about all the consequences of consuming sugar.

He opened the fridge and found that it was almost empty. He closed it, displeased, and took the paper off the fridge and put it on the table. He got his food out of the microwave and sat down to eat. He finished in a bit.  

He grabbed the paper and read it.

_'These are your good traits, Robbie.’_ They said. _'You have to work on making them shine through.’_

_'Shine through what?!’_

He wasn’t ready to socialize tomorrow. His cellphone buzzed. He ignored it at first, but then he thought that Sportacus had answered his message, but when he checked he saw that it wasn’t Sportacus.

He sighed when he read the name.  

_'Flobby’_

The tune coming from the radio caught his attention, he didn’t want to think about Flobby anyways.  

“Don’t care what they say, I will have my way! 'Cause it ain’t wrong loving you!” He sang. “At the end of the day, you won’t push me away!”

He threw the dishes in the sink. “No, it ain’t wrong loving you!”

He started singing but then he got real quiet. He felt a heat wave coming from the inside.

The knock came from the door quietly at first, shyly.  

Robbie stood frozen in the spot. He was so embarrassed that someone could have heard him sing, or that someone came to complain about the noise, that would usually be him on the other side of the door.  

He couldn’t just hide forever and pretend that he wasn’t there just a second ago.

Another knock.

Robbie stood straight, he cleared his throat and smoothed out his hair, he went up to the radio and turned it off.  

He gave a few large steps and he was at the door, extremely nauseous. He was burning up, and he dared to open the door.

A big breath.

Robbie opened the door.

“Hi Robbie!” Sportacus spoke.

Robbie blushed hard, of all the people that could have showed up it had to be him. He must have made some kind of face because Sportacus was fast to realize that he was the reason Robbie was red as a tomato.

“I got your text, I thought you wanted me to come by…” Sportacus felt bad. He made Robbie feel awkward.  

“Oh…” Robbie’s voice came out softly. “I-I thought you… I thought you were going to complain about the noise.”

Sportacus smiled softly. “Noise?” He asked. “I didn’t hear anything!”  

He was acting, obviously. He heard the music from the radio. He heard Robbie singing, he was having a good time. He shouldn’t have interrupted.

“Ah” Robbie recovered a bit of his usual self after that sentence. He cleared his throat. “I didn’t tell you to come up here.”

“I was going to go out but if you needed something I decided to pop up over here. Just in case.” Sportacus scratched his arm.

“Oh! You’re going out!” Robbie played along. “That’s great! Because there’s a few things that I need to buy for tomorrow…”

“And you want to tag along?” Robbie could have sworn that Sportacus’ eyes sparkled a bit.  

“Ummm…N-No.” Robbie laughed awkwardly. Now that he thought about it, this probably wasn’t a good idea. “No. Not really. I wanted to ask you something.”

“A favor?” Sportacus smiled.

“Well, yes. I mean, you’re going out. I-I…”

“You want me to go buy what you need.” Sportacus gave him a little smirk.  

Robbie looked away for a second, surrendering. “Yeah…”

“Fine, but does that mean we’re friends?” Sportacus smiled widely. “Friends do each other favors, Robbie.”

“No. We’re not friends, we’re allies.” Robbie marked the line.

Sportacus sighed at that sentence. “Maybe you should go out and do it by yourself, Robbie.”

“Why do you insist on me going out?” Robbie sighed.

“Why do you insist on rejecting a friendly hand?” Sportacus said.

“I’m asking for a friendly hand, you’re the one who just said no, Sportaspoon.”  

“Only because you don’t consider me a friend.” He managed to say.

Robbie was about to answer to that when his phone started to ring. He looked at it. He knew who was calling him, he didn’t want to answer.

“Aren’t you going to answer the phone?”

“Mind your own business. He should know by now…”

“So you’re like that with everyone…”  

“Yes, don’t feel special.” Robbie said, annoyed.

“Let’s not leave him hanging, shall we?” Sportacus got into Robbie’s apartment, and Robbie couldn’t stop him.

“HEY!” Robbie went after him.

“Answer the phone and I’ll go buy the stuff that you need.”

“It would be a waste of time, he’s just doing that so that I read his messages.” Robbie tried to get the phone away from Sportacus, but Sportacus was faster.

“Just answer and tell him you’ll read them, then.”  

They were facing each other, the table in between them.  

“Fine…” Robbie said through clenched teeth.

Sportacus answered the call and hand the phone to Robbie.

“Yes, Flobby. I got your texts, I’ll read them later, I’m kinda busy now.” Robbie faked a smile so Sportacus would stop looking at him like that. “Thanks for calling.”

_'HAPPY?’_ Robbie moved his lips without speaking.

Sportacus crossed his arms and smiled.

“That’s good! Poor ol’ Flobby was gettin’ worried!” An unknown voice came from the phone, which startled Robbie so much that he almost threw it.

_'WHAT?’_ Sportacus raised his hands in a form of question, he didn’t speak, he just moved his lips.

Robbie pointed the phone and shook his head.

Sportacus didn’t quite get what that meant. So he just sign him to keep talking.

“Ah, ehm, okay. Goodbye, I guess?” Robbie was acting weird to Sportacus’ eyes. What kind of conversation was that?

Robbie looked angry and confused. Angry at Sportacus and confused by the call.  

“What? What was that? I mean that was weird, you almost threw your phone, what happened?” Sportacus was mildly concerned about the whole thing, and he was responsible of whatever just happened. Maybe Robbie had a good reason to not answer that call or the messages.  

“Nothing.” Robbie said, trying to stay angry at Sportacus for making him take that call. “Just go and buy those stuff, there’s a list over there.”

Robbie went to his room to look for the money since he forgot to take his wallet with him.  

Sportacus took the first paper he saw and read it to check what Robbie needed.

_'Witty’_

He blushed a bit to the realization that what he was reading was actually the list he had written a few days ago, but he didn’t make a fuss about it. Instead he chuckled at the sight of Robbie when he came back from the room.

“What?” Robbie said drily at Sportacus. What was it this time?

“Oh, nothing.” Sportacus couldn’t help to laugh a bit. “The list I made, the kids gave it to you.”

He registered the shock on Robbie’s face, and a smile came to his lips. Probably the kids didn’t tell him that he was the one who wrote the list.

“You wrote that?” Robbie spat.  

“Guilty.” Sportacus said happily.  

“You really think that? What you wrote.” Robbie looked so astonished that it made Sportacus feel a little sad.

“Yeah.” He said just like that. “I keep telling you, I don’t think badly of you.”

“I don’t get it.” Robbie frowned.

Sportacus got worried by that answer.  

“You are really bad with this kinds of things. I thought one of the kids wrote it.” Robbie laughed.

That made Sportacus calm down, instantly. He smiled at Robbie, that was just like him, just what he expected Robbie to say. He breathed as if a big stone he had on top of him just fell off to the side. “You didn’t leave me much choice, I barely know you!” He laughed.

“Yeah, well. I guess that we should keep it that way or that list will grow smaller compared to the opposite list.” Robbie went for the shopping list he’d written and hand it to Sportacus.

Sportacus grabbed it and gave Robbie a little nudge.

“Aw! What?” Robbie flinched a bit.

“If that was one of your witty commentaries let’s take witty out of the list because it was no fun.” Sportacus held out his hand to receive the money. “You keep acting like being your friend is the worst thing in the world, let someone else be the judge. And if you’re speaking from past experiences, let me tell you that you didn’t have good friends.”

“Just go buy those damn things, Sportaloon. You’ve wasted enough time here.” Robbie gave him the money.  

“Fine. I’ll come back later.” Sportacus went outside Robbie’s apartment. “And sorry if I made you have a bad time with that call, it was impulse.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it. The reason why I almost threw the phone was because the guy calling doesn’t talk, but a voice answered. Must be a friend or a relative.” Robbie waved at him.

“Oh, ok then.” Sportacus went to the stairs. “See you!”

Robbie closed the door, and let out a long sigh.  

Robbie got everything ready for tomorrow, he couldn’t believe he was doing that. He thought about Mrs. Busybody winning the contest and he got angry, but not as angry as the other times. He was too tired and he started thinking that that wasn’t what really motivated him.

No.

Staying up for so long baking cakes was getting him.  

He did it only to beat her. She didn’t deserve to win with him being around. He was the best, that was all that mattered. He didn’t do it because it was fun, he didn’t do it because the children asked him to. It was for his own gain, he convinced himself of that. Just him. No one else. Just him.


	3. Chapter 3

Everyone’s stands were in place, it was early. The pedestrian walkway was starting to look even more marvelous than it already was.  

“Try to smile.” Stephanie urged Robbie while he was finishing one of his cakes. “But make it a honest smile.” 

“At this point, if I do something nice like that it’s not gonna be honest, pink girl.” Really, the sight of Robbie baking a cake was something hypnotizing, he did it like one of those guys from TV, but he still did it in his own way.

The smell, the sounds, the colors. This event was simply marvelous in it’s entirety.

You could walk the whole pedestrian walkway and find all sorts of cakes and all sorts of bakers, some of them didn’t stand a chance from the start but they still participated. Most of them were in it for the fun, some for the fame, others because a group of children insisted.  

Robbie had made the most awesome looking stand in the competence, there was no doubt. He already had an advantage there, but his social skills were the rusty ones.

It was early in the morning, a strange hour for Robbie, but before the event started the supervisors had to see that everything was in order and that everyone met the requirements. The kids kept trying to give Robbie advices and Robbie was getting irritated and the whole thing was trying his patience. He liked things easy, he liked things fast, not this kind of thing.

The shop owners opened their stores later than usual, but they couldn’t lose clients.  Behind Robbie’s stand was a flower shop. Of course, Robbie didn’t know about it because he never went for a stroll. If he got out of his apartment it was because he had a reason to do so, and he didn’t waste time looking around, and he certainly wouldn’t go to a flower shop since he was allergic to flowers and he wouldn’t enter to one to buy flowers for someone else; no one was worth his allergies.  

The kids did notice the flower shop a few days earlier, it was bigger than the flower shop that was in front of their building, they even met the owner of that flower shop! The little shop wasn’t open for clients that day, but the kids thought the guy felt a little overwhelmed by something for some reason and they went up to talk to him. He was really nice with them, he explained that he was far from home for the first time and that everything he was doing was a new experience for him and that he felt, indeed, a little overwhelmed.  

When the kids saw him walking to the big shop they ran to say hi.  

Robbie looked back at them for a second, he didn’t want them running around. Milford was around, with Bessie, and he often stopped by to check on the kids but that didn’t mean Robbie could let them go with too much freedom.

The kids dragged Bobby to Robbie’s stand.

“Robbie! You need to learn to be more like Bobby here!” Trixie smiled.

“You should meet little Ella!” Bobby smiled, letting the kids lead the way. “She definitely needs some friends like you, this is a new place for her too, ya know.”

“Leave the poor man be, kids!” It was another way of saying _‘I don’t want to meet anyone, little brats!’_. Robbie sighed, because he knew he couldn’t stop them. He tried to fake a smile when the poor man stood in front of him, at least he’d work as practice.

You could tell Robbie’s smile was fake, and Bobby was usually good at reading people.  

“Sorry for the kids.” Robbie said, not minding to look at Bobby.

“Don’t worry, pal!” Bobby let out a little chuckle. “Kids are great!”

_‘Great? At what? To who? Great at getting on my nerves?’_ Robbie didn’t say anything. A little twitch came to his nose.  

“Watcha got there?” Bobby wondered, looking at the cake Robbie was finishing.

“A cake.” Robbie spat.

“Robbie…” The kids scolded him in unison.

“It’s basically a nutella and coffee cake. I’m adding some chocolate curls to it. It’s good to wake you up.” Robbie said, politely, looking at the kids.

“Ya should give it a name… Add a sign with the name and the ingredients, that’ll bring some attention and you won’t have to explain it to people.” Bobby recommended with a wide smile.

Robbie looked at him, it wasn’t a bad idea at all. He stared for a second, that voice was familiar, the way Bobby talked, he heard him before.  

“Do I know you?” Robbie scratched his chin with his free hand.

“I don’t think so, I’m new around here. I own a little flower shop around that street.” He answered, pointing to the street where they lived.

'Achoo!’ Robbie sneezed at the mention of the word _'flower’_. Thank God he wasn’t looking at the cakes, but he sneezed all over Bobby.

“Sorry.” He left what he was doing and covered his nose.

Poor Bobby got scared for a second because the sneeze was so abrupt and sudden. “It’s okay!” He tried to find a tissue or something.

“Kids, take care of the stand for a second. I’ll go buy something from the drugstore.” Another sneeze came over Robbie as he left the stand. He took a few steps and looked back with a killing glare. “Ziggy, **don’t** eat anything!”

“Sir, yes sir!” Ziggy trembled. He was gonna do his best.

Robbie passed Bobby and went to the drugstore.

“Do ya need me to stay?” Bobby asked.

“It’s okay mister. We can handle it!” Stephanie smiled widely.

“I don’t doubt it! I’ll be around if you need anything, then.” Bobby waved at them, walking back to the flower shop behind them.

“You should stop by and try some of Robbie’s cakes!” Ziggy told him.

“I will!” Bobby smiled, putting his hands in his pockets.    

“He’s a good guy” Pixel spoke, once Bobby was gone. “We should help Robbie with the signs until he gets back and rejects our help.”

“Stephanie has the prettiest handwriting.” Trixie said.

“How about _my_ handwriting!?” Stingy said, a bit offended that he hadn’t been mentioned.                              

“You would save yourself from writing the whole words trying to keep them all to yourself, Stingy!” Trixie stared at him just in case he tried to make a comeback.

“Trixie don’t be mean to Stingy.” Stephanie looked at both.

“Has anyone seen Ziggy?” Pixel asked, taking his look off his watch.  

A sudden worry came to everyone.

“N-No.” Each of them said.

“He’s gone! He can’t- He’s loose!” Stingy looked around. “What are we gonna do!?” he freaked out.

“Stingy calm down!” Stephanie grabbed him by his shoulders.

“But he’s gonna eat everything! And what if he gets _lost_!?”  

“ **Calm down!** ” Trixie slapped him.

“Trixie! That wasn’t necessary!” Stephanie looked at her.

“What do you mean? That’s _always_ necessary!” Trixie laughed a bit.

Stingy was frozen, he got a bit mad when he was able to react.

“Hey, Pixel’s gone too!” Stephanie turned around.

“How? When?” Trixie saw that Pixel was in fact gone.

“He can find his way back.” Stingy breathed.

“I found him!” Pixel spoke, while dragging Ziggy back into the stand.

“I just wanted to buy something sweet!” Ziggy defended himself.

“Let us know first, you have no idea how much we worried!” Stephanie stepped closer to Ziggy, frowning.

“Sorry…” Ziggy apologized.

The supervisors arrived and they started checking the stands and the participants instantly.  

Robbie saw them from the drugstore and came back, at first he thought of running back but there was no need. His allergies were still present, but he tried to look as good as he possibly could.

“Hey Robbie, we took the liberty of picking up the names for your cakes, and we wrote them on those little papers.” Pixel said, pointing at the colorful papers.  

“Good, now you can leave.” Robbie shooed them out of the stand.

“Robbie you need to say things like _thank you_ if you want to win this contest!” Stephanie said, as she left the stand with the other kids.

“Kid, I didn’t say this before because I didn’t want to break your little heart, but I can _lie_.” Robbie pat her on the head as he took charge of his stand.

Stephanie rolled her eyes at him.  

“Don’t sneeze on them old man!” Trixie smirked, talking about the cakes.

Robbie was as always sharply dressed, polished shoes, nice shirt, carefully kept sweater, expensive belt, stylish pants. He always dressed smart and to impress. What he lacked on social skills he compensated in everything else. As soon as the people in charge came near, he stopped looking like the grumpy guy from the first floor. Manners came to shine, he knew how to sell his story. He knew what these guys liked, he already had the element of surprise in his dedication.  

“Well, Mr. Rotten, right?” One of the supervisors said, minding more about the stand than about Robbie. “Number 18. One of the last. Why did you join this contest? And why so late? Were you having _doubts_?”

This was kind of like a job interview, at least the ones they sell on TV. Robbie was confident enough and he had all the reasons to be so. He made sure to read the names on their suits.

“Well, Mr. Farabella…” He started confidently. “I am not _late_. Late would mean that I didn’t enter and I’m pretty sure I did. So if we put it as if I joined right to the limit, well yes, it was because I **didn’t** care about this contest. **I didn’t care** because what you’re offering I already have it.”

“Do you mean the money, or have you worked baking cakes for our company before?” John Farabella smirked, he had experience. The other two supervisors seemed pretty convinced about Robbie. Even if they really didn’t care about the bakers, they were still testing them. They couldn’t kick them out of the contest just because they didn’t have a good reason to enter, but their boss was a tricky person and the kind of guy who would bother you for insignificant details.  

“Oh, I don’t mean _that_ prize. The real prize should be being recognized. And I am already recognized.” Robbie looked down at them.

“I wonder by who.” Mr. Farabella spat. “But l really should start checking on the requirements. This was just a formality, you are not being evaluated based on this questions. You’ll be evaluated based on the quality and taste of your cakes, that’s why we’re here for. Jerry.” He stepped back, letting Jerry take the lead, he seemed like a rookie, but a capable one.

“Hello Mr. Rotten. I’m here to check if you have everything ready for later, you should know that it is expected for this to become a situation where many people will attend, and we need to be able to test all of your skills through those people.” Jerry Thompson smiled. “So we need _variety,_ Mr. Rotten, as you may know! So let’s check the list and see.” He said looking through some papers.

“Sure.” Robbie smiled, trying to be polite.

“Okay, let’s see.” Jerry said as soon as he found the right paper. “You must have a chocolate based cake, which you do as I can see from that name! Nice touch.” He complimented, the sign said 'Chocolate Boom’.

“Ah, yes. I let the kids choose the names.” Robbie admitted.

“Oh, you have kids? That’s nice. They must be glad to have a dad who can bake cakes.” Jerry said absent minded, marking the little box beside the first requirement sentence.

Robbie didn’t feel the need to correct Jerry about the kids, if anything that would generate some kind of sympathy, _apparently_.

“You must have some kind of sponge cake. How about this one, 'Fluffy Candy’?” Jerry read. “Your kids have a great imagination.”

“Yes, that’s one. I made a few.” Robbie looked at the cake he pointed out.

“Good, but one’s enough. _Quality not quantity_.” Jerry marked it. “A puff pastry cake… _Nailed it._ ”  

Robbie let the man do his job. The kids were on a bench, waiting patiently, at first, but they got bored so they went to inform Milford that they would be playing around.

At the end of the list Jerry said. “Okay, we’re almost done… Cheesecake… Done. You got our e-mail, right? About the last additions?” Jerry looked for another page.

“O-Of course!” Robbie lied. He didn’t read any e-mail. He didn’t even check Flobby’s messages.  

“Good!” The man said. “Which ones are the gluten-free cakes?”

“Y-Yes.” He said, relieved. “Right there.” He pointed out 'White Lemonade’.

“Awesome! Vegan cake.” He read.

“Strawberries in the Water…” Robbie read the little sign.

“And last but not least, a low/reduced fat cake.” Jerry read.

“That one.” Robbie saw that the sign had a crossed word. He read the ones above it: 'Apple crunch’.“

“Wonderful. We’re done here, Mr. Rotten! Good job so far. For being so patient I would like to give you a little advice. As you may know you need to sell your cakes.” He leaned over the stand. “I don’t mean it that way, _they’re free_. I mean that you should offer some kind of beverage to go with, or a little souvenir… People _love_ that.”

“Yes, thank you.” Robbie said.

“Good luck, Mr. Rotten.” John said as they left.

Robbie breathed at last. He dropped as soon as they were out of sight and the kids ran back to the stand.

“What happened!?” They all asked.

“That took _forever_!” Trixie sighed, annoyed.

“Business takes it’s time, Trixie.” Stingy rolled his eyes at her. “You _bribed_ them, right?”

“No! **He did not!** ” Stephanie looked up at Robbie.

“Well?” Pixel said, they were waiting for some kind of answer.

“Well, if it weren’t for your friend _Sportaflop_ we would be out of the contest…” Robbie said wiping the sweat off his forehead.  

“Really? How so?” Ziggy asked.

“He insisted that I make those healthy cakes, _specially for you_. I didn’t want to at first.” Robbie sighed. “But I ultimately did them. I didn’t read the requirements, it was all _luck_.”

“What!? **What do you mean you didn’t read the requirements!?** ” Stephanie screamed at him.

“It was a long list! That’s why it took so long!” Robbie looked away, annoyed.

“You really are lazy!” Pixel frowned.

“Oh, don’t tell me that you read the ’ _I Have Read And Accept The Terms And Conditions’_ thing, Pikachu.” Robbie looked at Pixel.

Pixel looked so offended at being called 'Pikachu’. “Of course! Terms and Conditions are important. An _'adult’_ like you should know that, _Roberto_.”

Robbie was by far more offended at being called Roberto by a little kid.

“Did you like the names?” Ziggy asked.

“No, but the guy seemed to like them. And who wrote the apple crunch one? I could barely read the first thing! No, I actually **couldn’t** read the first part!” Robbie said, pointing at the sign.

“Oh, yes. Sorry about that.” Stephanie stepped forward. “I wanted to call it the _Sportacus_ cake but they didn’t let me and I had to cross it.”

“The Sportacus cake?” Robbie looked sincerely confused.

“Because it has apples… He loves apples. And it’s also healthy, just like him! The Sportacus cake!”

Robbie covered his face and tried not to laugh. “Okay.” He said. “I need to get ready now. And you need to get those bracelets to vote.”

“If there’s a failure on the system I’ll make sure you don’t loose points, Robbie.” Pixel looked at him, waiting to see how Robbie would call him.

“Thanks, kid.” Robbie smirked.

Pixel frowned, but let it pass.

'Achoo!’ Robbie sneezed. “That flower shop!” He said angrily. “I’m not even that near of it!”


	4. Chapter 4

Robbie didn’t expect so many people to come but the truth is that the crowd was massive, walking back and forward, checking all of the stands. There was a lady who wanted to hire someone to bake a cake for her sister’s wedding instead of the one they had planned because she said it was too expensive. At first she fell in love with Bessie’s cakes, especially the vanilla cake. Bessie was in one of the middle stands, she had a great advantage in that position because she wasn’t the first baker who’s cakes the people tasted nor the last, she knew how to sell her cakes like an expert. She could convince people to vote her cakes as much as she could convince Milford of doing anything for her. She had an awesome amount of votes by 3pm.

Robbie wasn’t doing so well, people were a bit impatient and he couldn’t do everything by himself. He was exhausted and he didn’t want the kids to help him. The kids voted for him, obviously, and they were trying to convince people to try Robbie’s cakes, but since he was almost last, people were full when they were near his stand.  

Robbie attracted more ladies to his stand, Bessie attracted all kinds of people. It was desperating checking on the board and seeing that Bessie was winning. Luckily Robbie had a secret weapon he didn’t even know he had.  

Sportacus arrived late, but he arrived with bags of fruit, a blender, and some ice.  

“Stephanie!” He went to talk to her when he got near the stand. “Did you bring what I asked you?”

“Yes, I put them on Robbie’s stand. We’ll help you!” Stephanie ran to the stand to get some plastic cups that she put under the counter before.

“Good!” Sportacus walked past the crowd and saw an exhausted Robbie. His face changed into a caring expression in that second.  

“What cake do you want?” Robbie asked, as nicely as he could, to the silhouette of the man standing in front of him. He didn’t have time to look.

“I’m here to help you, Robbie. Whether you want my help or not.” Sportacus turned around to get into the stand.  

“I’m already here!” Stephanie said, standing behind Robbie. Poor Robbie, he almost had a heart attack.

“God! Don’t sneak up on me like that, pink girl!” He woke up in a sort of way because of that.  

“We’ll help Sportacus, since you don’t want our help, Robbie!” Ziggy said.  

“Pixel and Stingy went to tell people that we have healthy and tasty drinks in this stand, Robbie.” Stephanie said as she grabbed the blender. “People are trying to be healthier these days, and eating cake can make you feel guilty if you’re trying to stay true to your healthy lifestyle.”  

“So these drinks are a bit of an excuse.” Sportacus put the ice down.

“Besides, Sportacus will get us more people!” Trixie laughed.  

Sportacus ears turned red when he saw that what Trixie said was actually true. A minute after he arrived a bunch of girls went to Robbie’s stand.

Sportacus was dreamy and no one could deny it.  

After a while, guys went to Robbie’s stand too.

The kids did a good job convincing people after trying so hard.

The crowd was a river of people, all of them gathering around Robbie’s stand. The girl that was looking for a baker for her sister’s wedding found that baker in Robbie. She absolutely fell in love with his cakes, and she also fell a little bit for Sportacus. Robbie was astonished on how Sportacus attracted so many people. He looked back at him every once in a while, especially when he heard some girl or some guy trying to give him their number.  

He was a bit jealous… Robbie liked the attention, and Sportacus took that attention from him. He let his gaze linger for a bit longer than usual, analyzing. But he looked away immediately, to take care of the cakes, it wasn’t a day for distractions.

Faces passed, votes were counted, cakes were eaten.  

The aroma coming from the pedestrian walkway was gripping.  

Bobby went to check on Robbie’s stand, but he left before asking for a cake because he had to answer a call. “Hey kiddo! No, I’m right at the end…Yeah, I’ll be there in a minute…”  

Pixel and Stingy were sitting down on the only free bench, trying to convince more people to go to Robbie’s stand from there.

“I can’t believe these people. They came here because we have healthy stuff. What is happening to this society!? Since when eating cake has to have something healthy to it?” Robbie commented under the noise of people talking.  

“You are what you eat!” Sportacus smiled.

“Are you telling me that I’m sweet like this cake?” Robbie said, holding a stunning looking lemon ice cream cake.

“No.” Sportacus turned around.

The kids laughed at their conversations. Ziggy finally ate a bit of cake; a nice coconut cake with the most sophisticated frosting he ever saw, generously covered with chocolate curls.

Everyone worked hard and even if it was a bit tiring, they had fun. And they were certainly happy when they climbed to the second place. Three more votes and they would be in a tie with Bessie.

As if fate had called them, Bobby showed up again, this time with a funny looking guy that Robbie recognized, and a little girl by his side.

“Hiya, Robbie!” Bobby went up to him. “So ya’re that Robbie Flobby tells me about! We even talked over the phone the other day!” He smiled.

“Hey, Flobby…” Robbie said finally. Sportacus turned around when he heard that name and the way Robbie said it. He was ready to step forward if he had to, he still thought of himself as guilty for any kind of inconvenience Robbie had. It was probably because Robbie used to blame him for everything while trying to kick him out of the building.                        

“It’s really good to see you! I’m glad you are ok!” Flobby signed.                        

“He says-” Bobby started talking but Robbie interrupted.                        

“That it’s nice to see me, yes. You don’t need to translate or anything, I know sign language. I know Flobby from a while back, remember?” Robbie squinted his eyes a bit. His allergies were coming back.                    

“Sorry, I got used to it…” Bobby laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.

“Are we gonna try those cakes or not?” Rottenella spoke for the first time, looking up at Bobby.                        

“Sure thing kiddo!” Bobby looked at her and then turned around to check out the cakes.                        

Robbie and Flobby talked for a while, and Sportacus stayed in charge of the cakes. He wanted to know what they were talking about and what kind of relationship they had. He knew sign language too but he felt it would be rude and disrespectful to spy on them. He had to look for the cakes anyways.        

Stephanie looked at Rottenella from behind the stand and tried to offer her a beverage. “Want one?” She smiled sweetly. “I’m Stephanie by the way, this is Ziggy and Trixie.” She introduced them.                        

“I didn’t ask for a beverage, that should mean that I don’t want one, thank you.” Rottenella looked at her. “And I didn’t ask for your name either…” She sighed. “Rottenella.”                        

Stephanie didn’t like Rottenella’s attitude towards them, but she didn’t want to judge her too hard. “Okay…”                        

Trixie wanted to tell her a few things but Ziggy stopped her.                        

Rottenella examined the cakes carefully. Really carefully. As if one of them could be poisoned.                        

Bobby let out a little cry. “Excuse me!” He leaned against the stand. “Is that a sunflower?” He pointed out a cake that was quite hidden. You could tell his excitement for it.                        

Sportacus uncovered it. “Yes! Do you want a piece of that one?”                

“A piece? I want it all!” Bobby smiled, marveled, looking at the cake. “I love sunflowers!”                        

“Uncle… Shouldn’t you be a bit more thoughtful about this?” Rottenella looked at him, judging. “Who’s gonna eat all of that? You?” She facepalmed herself. “Think things through…”                

“Oh, but Ella!” She was right about that. An idea came to him. “How about I buy it, pal?” He looked up at Sportacus. “I buy the cake and I offer it to my costumers!” He smiled at Rottenella. “Wouldn’t that be nice?”                        

“You don’t even know how it tastes…” She wasn’t fond of the idea.            

“I can assure you that they are the best!” Sportacus said, confident.              

“Everyone loves Robbie’s cakes!” Ziggy stepped in.    

“You say everyone…” Rottenella looked at Ziggy. “You say his cakes are the best…” She looked at Sportacus. “But he’s not number one, is he?” Rottenella pointed at the screen that showed the votes and places of the participants with a little smile.

“That’s only because he’s not in a good place!” Trixie spat. “Bessie’s winning just because she gets more people where her stand is!”    

“If you say so…” Rottenella gave her the sweetest smile ever. Fake, of course.

“Ella…” Bobby frowned, but he wasn’t angry. He could never get mad at her.

“You can be the judge, Miss.” Sportacus smiled at Rottenella. “Try for yourself.”

“That one.” Rottenella pointed at the nutella and coffee cake.  

“That’s Robbie’s favorite!” Sportacus said, even though it wasn’t Robbie’s favorite. He cut the cake. “Here you go!”  

Robbie turned around to see.    

“It’s not bad, I’d give it a 7.” Rottenella said. “The other lady got a 6.”  

“That’s good to hear!” Bobby said. “A 7 from her is like an 11!”  

“I told you his cakes were the best. He should be number one.” Sportacus said proudly.

Rottenella counted her vote on the little device that every stand had.

“Robbie! Can we give this cake to this man?” Sportacus asked.                        

“Bobby…” Bobby pointed out      

“To Bobby!” Sportacus corrected.                        

“Sure, whatever.” Robbie didn’t mind.

“How much money do you want?” Bobby asked him.                        

“I don’t need your money, just take it.” Robbie said. He had almost all of his attention on Flobby.

Sportacus put the cake on a little package for Bobby. He looked back at Robbie while doing it.  

“They’re talking bout work.” Bobby told him. “They worked together…Well, Flobs kinda worked for Robbie”                        

Sportacus looked at Bobby. “Why are you telling me?”                        

“Ya wanted to know. I can tell…” Bobby smiled lightly. “Robbie didn’t tell him he quit, and he told me that knowing him, he had reasons to worry…”  

“Reasons?” Sportacus looked back at Robbie. He got concerned for a second, but when he looked at him he knew that Robbie was fine… He shouldn’t worry that much. Robbie was fine.  

“How do ya know Robbie?” Bobby asked.

“We live together!” Ziggy said.

“But not like that!” Sportacus said, noticing an expression on Bobby’s face. “We live on the same building, we’re neighbors.”

“Ziggy, you don’t even live on the building! Neither do I and neither does Stephanie!” Trixie looked at Ziggy.

“I would like that beverage now.” Rottenella interrupted.                        

“Sorry!” Stephanie said softly. “We’re just taking a break.”

“Yeah.” Trixie said, leaving the stand with Stephanie.

Ziggy didn’t know what to do, he was going to serve her the drink.

“Ziggy!” Stephanie called. “Let’s go!”

“S-Sorry!” Ziggy apologized and left the stand, following the girls.  

Sportacus noticed that. He felt bad for Rottenella. “I’ll get you that drink!” He smiled at her. He prepared the beverage in a minute. He looked at Bobby while handing Rottenella the cup.

“Thank you, sir.” She said softly, as she held the cup with both of her hands.

Bobby shrugged. Rottenella never made friends and Bobby worried.

He always worried about her, and she knew it.  

She took a little glimpse of Bobby’s face and she quickly give him a little bump. “It’s okay.” She said, giving him a smile. She had mastered her fake smile, and no one ever doubted it, nobody really cared except Bobby.  

Rottenella’s dad wasn’t really a bad guy, but he wasn’t the best parent. They brought out the very worst in each other if they were together in a room. She was sure he wasn’t going to miss her when she decided to leave. She needed a place to stay and Uncle Bobby was always willing to help, they casted him out when his sister died, but they despised him when Rottenella left.

Her family knew Bobby was to blame, and they never gave them a chance to explain. But Bobby knew he couldn’t leave Rottenella just to spare himself from a bit of hate, so he took her in.  

“Here’s your cake, Bobby.” Sportacus told him.

“Ah, thank you!” Bobby smiled out of courtesy. He got close to count his vote on the device.

Robbie and Flobby walked back and Flobby marked his vote on the device too.

“I know how good Robbie’s cakes are, I don’t need to try one now.” He signed.

“I’ll go back to the shop. If you want, I can take the cake.” Rottenella announced, taking a few steps back, drinking the beverage.

“I don’t think that you should be alone kiddo… We’ll head back together.” Bobby said, ruffling her hair. “Besides, if I gave ya the cake, ya’d hide it.” He laughed. “Is that ok with ya, Flobs?”

Flobby nodded, and waved goodbye to Robbie and Sportacus.

When everyone left, they let out a little sigh.  

“Thank God they changed the length of the contest, I wouldn’t survive a week…” Robbie closed his eyes.

There weren’t too many people around and the contest was near the end. Most people left to check out the stores, or went back to their obligations. The kids got together where Stingy and Pixel were.

Sportacus looked at the screen where the votes were. He smiled widely. “Robbie, look!” He looked at Robbie.  

Robbie saw it, it was a tie. One more vote could decide their fate.  

Sportacus got out of the stand, and stayed still in front of Robbie. He scratched his chin, thoughtfully.

“I’d like the apple crunch cake, please.” He smiled.

Robbie looked at him and laughed, he remembered what Stephanie said. “I don’t know if you’re really predictable or not, Sportaflop.” He cut a piece of the cake for him.

“I could say the same thing about you…” Sportacus grabbed the cake. “But I like to think that you’re not.” He smiled softly.

“I’m never predictable!” Robbie said proudly, handing him a plastic spoon.

“You’re predictable when you act all grumpy.” Sportacus took the spoon, and scooped up a little of the cake.

“Whatever.” Robbie said, crossing his arms. He leaned back over a column of the stand waiting for Sportacus to eat the cake.

“It really is delicious!” Sportacus said leaving the plate and the spoon on the stand when he finished.

“I didn’t think you would eat cake today, too much sugar and all that.” Robbie said.

“Well, I told you that cake is good sometimes, didn’t I? I’m not a fan of cake but this is really good!” Sportacus let out a little laugh at Robbie’s expression when he said he wasn’t a fan of cake. He went up to the device and pressed his bracelet against it. His vote showed up and Robbie’s name climbed to the first place. “You’re number one.” He turned around to look at Robbie, and the way his lips lifted upward created a feeling of satisfaction in Robbie, as if having completed something important for him.

Three minutes left until the contest ended, and there was no one interested in trying more cakes. There was a stillness to all of this. It was a massive representation of that little moment when you’ve eaten enough and you just want to lay down and rest.  

Robbie looked around, pleased. He liked the stillness of the moment. He breathed in.  

‘Achoo!’ He sneezed. 'Achoo!’ Once more. 'Achoo!’ And again. He kept sneezing for a while and Sportacus tried to help him, but Robbie knew how to handle it. He rubbed his eyes when his allergies calmed down a bit and let out a little annoyed cry. “Argh! Those damn flowers!” He looked at the flower shop. “They always ruin everything!”

“God, I don’t want to know how you live through Spring!” Sportacus looked really concerned.  

“I don’t live on Spring.” Robbie said, wiping his nose.  

“Your eyes are really watery.” Sportacus pointed out. “If you have to give a speech you could say that this whole thing got you emotional.” He said ironically, crossing his arms.

“I love speeches, mostly when they’re addressing me in a nice way or if I’m the one giving them, but I really hope I don’t have to…'Achoo!’”

“You are comfortable with the attention, then…” Sportacus said.

“Yeah, I like it, I guess. I’m not really that used to it but I like it.” Robbie looked at Sportacus, smirking. “You certainly know about attention.”

“What?” He caught Sportacus off guard.  

“Don’t play that card with me Sportaflop.” His eyebrows wiggled a bit. “You attracted everyone here the moment you step foot in the stand.”  

“Ah… I-I don’t think so…”

“Oh come on!” Robbie laughed. “Give you some credit.”

He wanted to tease Sportacus but the sound from the speakers stopped him. The contest was officially over and Bessie was quite angry. She even blamed Milford for the results. The kids started jumping around when they saw the screen.

John Farabella announced that the winner was the contestant number eighteen.  People had gathered around the little stage were John was standing, with some other people from the company. Even Stingy and Trixie put aside their differences and hugged, celebrating.  

Everyone clapped, joyful. John thanked everybody who came to the contest and thanked the rest of the participants as well. Robbie got out of the stand, and was walking triumphantly to the stage when John stopped him. “You don’t need to come over here Mr. Rotten, we’re not giving you an award so there’s no need for a speech.” John mocked him. “We’ll communicate with you tomorrow to talk about the details.” He laughed and some other people followed.

Robbie’s smile disappeared in that moment, his cheeks turned red when people turned around to look at him. The kids stopped jumping and tried to get to where he was standing.  

Sportacus frowned angrily at John’s face, who was looking down at Robbie. He walked up to Robbie and put his hand lightly on his shoulder, reassuring, and instead of flinching like Robbie usually did, he stayed still.  

Sportacus’ eyes showed the gentle and honest concern he felt. He left his hand there. After a moment, Robbie got angry and pushed Sportacus away, and stomped back to the stand to pack his things.

“Please, go celebrate somewhere!” John said through the microphone.  

The kids finally got out of the sea of people and ran to where Sportacus was.

“Give him a moment, kids.” Sportacus got down to talk to them, noticing how worried they were. “Sometimes people need a bit of space. When he calms down, we’ll take him somewhere nice to celebrate, how about that?” He smiled, ruffling Ziggy’s hair and looking at their faces, one at a time.

“That guy wasn’t nice at all!” Ziggy said.  

“Yeah!” The kids agreed.  

“You kids go tell Mr. Meanswell he’s invited too, and if Miss Bessie wants to come to she can.” Sportacus got up and looked at Robbie.

“Okay, but tell Robbie that we’re happy for him.” Stephanie said as she walked to where her uncle was.

“And that he shouldn’t listen to that guy!” Ziggy looked quite angry at John.

“I will, but you can tell him yourself later too!” Sportacus said as he slowly walked to where Robbie was.

Robbie was sneezing because of the flower shop, and his eyes were irritated. He was really annoyed.

“Robbie…” Sportacus stayed a bit far from Robbie to give him some space. “Hey… I can see that you’re upset…”  

Robbie was still smoldering underneath his stony expression and his allergies. He didn’t answer back.

“If you don’t want to talk about it, it’s fine. We just need you to know that we’re proud, and I think that we should celebrate.” Sportacus took a step forward. “You should celebrate! You did everything perfectly and that guy was just idiotic and I rarely say that about someone.”

Robbie’s eyes and nose got really itchy. He kept packing his things from the stand.

“I know that you don’t want to talk but could you at least turn around?” Sportacus was looking at Robbie’s back. He took another step forward and spoke with such a soft voice even Robbie felt his words calming him.  

“You always come to the rescue even if nobody’s calling for help…” Robbie said, trying to get rid of that stupid feeling of warmth. “If I saw you in trouble I just don’t know if I’d help.”  

Sportacus felt a little hurt by that, but he knew Robbie didn’t mean that, not really. His face still showed a bit of a pained expression.  

Robbie turned around and saw it, and he felt bad. That feeling was worse than the embarrassment from before. He sighed and walked a few steps closer to Sportacus. “Fine, lets celebrate.” He said after thinking on how his commentaries affected him so profoundly.  

Sportacus lit up. “What do you want to do?”

“Sleep, mostly.” Robbie said. “Let’s just go somewhere we can sit, or let’s just go home…” He did look tired.

“Fine, I have an idea… Just this time…” Sportacus looked directly at Robbie. “Just this time, you can go rest and take a nap.”

“Or two.” Robbie interrupted. “I deserve it.”

“Okay… And meanwhile we’ll make something, I’m sure the kids would like a barbecue…” He said thoughtfully. “And when it’s done, we’ll wake you up.”

“Fine…” Robbie sighed. “I suppose it’ll be in your flat, and you’ll make us eat outside…”

“It’s going to be a nice evening, just look at the sky!” Sportacus smiled and Robbie rolled his eyes at him. He was taking a bunch of stuff from the stand and it was a funny thing to observe. Sportacus giggled and went up to help.

Robbie looked over his shoulder. “I didn’t ask for your help!”  

“Oh, fine then.” Sportacus said lightly and went and put the rest of the stuff on top of what Robbie was carrying. “As you wish!”  

Robbie almost fell, but he acted as if was nothing.

And he went to the building, where the doorman tried to help him, but Robbie didn’t let him. Soon after, everyone arrived, _even Bessie!_

They had a nice time.


	5. Chapter 5

 The store was wedged between two buildings. The windows were clean and the flowers on display were on the most beautiful flower pots. There was no theme to them or color coordination and they were crammed together rather than purposely arranged to have an artistic look, but they certainly looked good. Rottenella pushed the door and a bell rang, she didn't hold the door for her uncle, who was walking behind her carrying the package with both hands. There was a corridor to the side of the cashier that led to a little garden. It was pristine. The dustless shop had shelves that showed cute little cacti, succulent plants, including Flobby's favorites: the ones that belonged to the Crassulaceae family. A cute little sign hung in the door, 'open, come in.'  

Bobby put the package on the new coffee table with a bright smile. The table had a delicate flower pattern around the edge, and like most things on the store it wasn't one of those mass produced items. 

Rottenella sat in one of the chairs beside it and left the empty cup on the table, she crossed her legs and rested her arms on the armchairs. 

Bobby was as happy as a mouse with Roquefort. He stared at the cake in the most loving way possible, and he only took his eyes from it when Flobby came in bringing a knife and a plate for the cake. 

"Thank you" He said grabbing the plate with one hand. He carefully placed it under the cake. His facial expression was one of absolute and utter concentration. He was biting his tongue, trying to get the cake on the right place and in the right way. 

‘Boo!’ Rottenella tried to scare him. She did manage to startle him a little, so a vague smile showed up on her face. She hadn't scared him enough to make him throw away the cake which was her first idea. 

“Ella, could you please get my apron so I can get to work?” Bobby asked, grabbing the knife from his friend's hand and preparing himself to delicately cut the cake. 

The girl nodded getting up from the chair, her shiny polished shoes barely made a noise on the maple floor  as she walked behind the counter. Her petite and dainty self came back with a teal apron on her hands. She stood behind Bobby, waiting for him to finish cutting the sunflower cake.  

A pleasant aroma came from the marvelous cake that now was fully displayed on the store.  

Bobby took some pictures. 

The taller man grabbed the apron from Rottenella’s pale hands. He had decided to work for a bit before eating the beloved cake to make it as a reward of some sort. Bobby put the apron over his well cared light baby blue shirt and fixed it to look as perfect as possible. He smiled with ease, and he always tried to show his kind nature. He walked close to the front window to check on the flowers but his gaze slid into the background, for something called his attention.  

The tall guy that was sweeping the entrance to the apartment complex that was just crossing the street, the beige building. Bobby saw him before. Yesterday. The guy was talking with a loud kid, Bobby wasn't even sure if the kid was actually a kid because he was extremely tall, but from afar he appeared to be at least fourteen years old.  

The tall man appeared to be around the same age as Bobby and even had a similar yet distinct complexion. It was alarming how charming he looked.  

Rottenella usually helped around but there wasn't much to do today and she preferred to do other things aside taking care of plants, she didn't take a particular pleasure in it. She looked at her uncle and noticed he was distracted, she glanced at Flobby for a minute before walking behind the counter and grabbing a little sign that they kept under the accessories. Flobby knew she was up to something so he signed her to be nice. She nodded at him and walked slowly to the glass door and out to the window, making the little bell ring again, unnoticeable by the gentle looking man almost in front of her. She was intrigued, she knew her uncle was a daydreamer that could get distracted by a bee passing by but this time he did not only seem distracted but he seemed mesmerized and even focused so she followed her uncle's gaze to the man in the building's entry. 

 Bobby was brought back to earth when she slammed the sign onto the window. 

‘Help wanted.’ It read. 

“Flobby has to go to work.” Rottenella spoke through the window. 

“Right!” Bobby stepped back to look at Flobby. “I'm sorry I kept ya busy today Flobs! We'll get someone soon enough, don't worry bout it!” He moved closer to him to talk for a bit. 

Rottenella stayed outside, pretending to check on the flowers, but she was actually glancing at the guy Bobby was looking. She rolled her eyes as a sign of disapproval and went back in to say goodbye to Flobby.  

"What Uncle Bobby says is that he is confident in finding a helper because he read all about it on one of his little magazines." She said as she stepped in, her posture as strong and graceful as always. 

"They are really good and most of the times right!" Bobby pouted his mouth a bit. 

Rottenella glanced at him with a look of disbelief. 

"I get the best advice from there!" Bobby said, which made Rottenella roll her eyes at him. 

 He put his arms around them. "And from you two too!" 

Rottenella smirked a bit, letting go. She went to the coffee table and grabbed a piece of the cake. "We need little plates for these..." She went back with the grown-ups. "You sure you don't want to take one?" She asked Flobby. 

He smiled politely and shook his head.  

The smaller man looked at his watch. "See you later." He signed as he walked outside and went off to work. 

"I don't know what we'd do without Flobby, really!" Bobby looked back at where Flobby stood.  

"Mhmm..." The girl nodded, while taking a bite of the cake.  

"Ah! Right!" Bobby sprinted to check on the flowers.  

They didn't have many flowers to start. He was constantly worried about their life span and he knew that until their online service wasn't completed they'd have to throw some flowers away, even so, he'd always take good care of them, always making sure that they all had the perfect conditions to survive. He checked that everything was alright every few minutes, and things didn't seem to change that much. 

Bobby was determined to not only sell flowers but to sell plants, cacti, and all the things required to take care of these little life forms that he cared so much about. Most of the plants he had were small, perfect for apartments and grateful to the weather that the city had. It was a good idea since the area surrounding was full of apartments, yes, houses too, but mostly apartments.   

The worst thing for business was that there was a competition already. The rivals were polite but dangerous too. They offered help and advice which were generously accepted by Bobby.  

The afternoon was quiet, most people would be working, taking a break, taking a nap... Rottenella liked the quiet moments, she had finished the piece of cake and was going to wash her hands. 

Bobby was almost done checking the flowers. He looked back at the guy on the building, he was checking his phone. Bobby tried to fix his hair and he only got it looking worse. 

Rottenella went to the computer and looked for some music as Bobby went to the back to wash his hands.  

"What was that Japanese band you liked?" Bobby asked her, knowing that she was looking for music.  

"Lucky Tapes..." She said, loud enough for him to hear. "Do you want to listen to that?" 

"Well, it brought a client in yesterday, maybe they are actually good luck!" He walked out the bathroom. 

"They are more of a band to listen at night for me..." Rottenella said, as she looked for another band. "And you know that I don't believe in luck." 

"Okay." He went to the coffee table and looked at the cake. He took a piece. "I didn't take enough pictures." 

"I'd say you like that cake almost as much as you like the guy from that building." Rottenella said, still focusing on the music. 

Bobby almost choked on the cake, it could be easy to say that he probably spat out a chunk of it. His brain formulated no thoughts other than to register that he was shocked by the sentence. He closed his mouth and looked sadly at the cake on the floor. He looked at Rottenella ( _who was now looking at him)_ with confusion in his eyes "What?" was all he could say. 

She bit the edge of a smile when she got a funny idea in her head.  

"Ella?" Bobby said as a vain attempt to keep her creeping grin at bay. The intention behind her perking lips wasn’t something that you could be sure to be safe of, especially in that moment. "What?" He slowly got up. "Pumpkin?" He smiled, mostly out of fear and curiosity. 

"Nothing." She smiled. 

"Nothing is never nothing!" He pointed out. "You smiled." 

"I mean, you spit your precious cake all over the floor, that's funny!"  

"No, that's not..." He looked down at the cake. He let out a big sigh.  

"I'll help you clean up..." Rottenella said, going to the back. 

"Yer up to something..." Bobby said, following her. "I can tell." 

"Yes, I'm planning on helping you clean this mess" Rottenella said. 

"You could be referring to many things, that doesn't comfort me..." Bobby bit his lip. "You won't do anything too bad, right?"  

"Nope." Rottenella said, cleaning the floor. 

"It's not that I don't trust ya, I do..." He looked at her, worryingly. "But I don't know if I should..." He chuckled nervously. 

"I won't do anything mischievous if that's what you're thinking... That's not who I am. I only got an eye for fun, Uncle!" She looked to the door. A shiver passed through Bobby's back. "Client."  

She went to the back. 

The little bell atop the door rang.  

"Yes?" Bobby turned, smiling. It wasn't the guy from the building, which was a relief as much as it was a bit disappointing. It was just a nice lady that looked around. She carried a few bags with her and when she saw the cake she dropped them to get herself a piece.  

"Is it okay if I try it?"  

"Sure, ma'am!" 

She was completely astonished by the delicious taste from the cake. "Where did you buy it, if I may know? Or did you make it yourself?"  

"Oh! A friend gave it to me!" Bobby scratched the back of his head. 

"Your friend should sell these! I'd  buy five right in this instant!" She let out a little chortle. "Ah, if I asked you to arrange a few flowers for me for tomorrow would you do it?"  

"Yes, sure!" Bobby smiled widely.  

"Ah, perfect!" The lady looked in her purse. "Do you make deliveries?"  

"Oh, sorry ma'am, not yet. Is that a problem?" Bobby worried. 

"Oh, no, it's okay!" The lady gave him a paper. "Those are the arrangements I need, you think you can make it?" 

Bobby carefully read the list. "Yes." 

"Perfect then!" She gave him a payment in advance and Bobby gave her a ticket.  

"If there's anything more I can do for you please let me know, ma'am!" He said giving her a card.  

"I'd like to have more of that cake someday, will you have more of these every week?" The lady asked as she grabbed her bags. 

"I-I don't know, maybe!" He smiled walking her to the door. 

"You should! And put a little sign outside!" She said as he opened the door for her. "You have the most beautiful flowers!" 

"Thanks! See you tomorrow ma'am!" 

Rottenella peaked from the hallway to see a really happy Bobby. Bobby walked to the coffee table and took a little piece of the cake, he sat back and let the happiness soak right into his bones. He closed his eyes and savored the cake and the moment, with the piece of paper in his other hand. His body and mind relaxed, that's how he felt when he had a client, that made him feel that he was doing the right thing, that he made the right choice. He'd start working in a minute but right now, in that moment he just needed to enjoy the feeling. You have to enjoy happiness before it goes flat. 

Flobby had a quiet day at the office as well. After Robbie left he didn't have to do much.  

The night was soon to be there. 

 

"How was the reencounter?" Sportacus asked as he served Robbie his burger. "The vegetables are on the table, by the way." His accent making the words sound a bit funny.  

"Vegetables? Really? This is a celebration, Sportaflop!" Robbie rolled his eyes at him. He didn't answer his first question. 

The heat of the day was leaving. The sun lower in the sky, the light of day draining away and the light from the streets turning on, creating a glow in the horizon.  

Crickets chirping. 

The kids had bought everything with Bessie and Milford. Sportacus had put the table outside, and gathered everyone's chairs. He only had four chairs so everyone had to bring their own. Stingy had a bit of a crisis when he thought he'd have to share a seat with someone else, and he also got very confused about bringing his own chair or just "owning" one that was already there. He ultimately decided that all chairs belonged to him and that he'd use one that was already there because he didn't want to go upstairs and bring one from his apartment.  

Sportacus' cooking skills weren't half as bad. He'd done a good job. And with the help of Stephanie and Milford they had the food ready in no time.  

Pixel took charge of the music. Everyone had in consideration his opinion when it came to music, whatever he put on the speakers was probably something fitting to the situation and you would definitely enjoy. 

The sound of the barbecue was drowned by the sound coming from Pixel's speakers. 

"Your parents are coming later, right Pixel?" Sportacus asked, lowering the heat. 

"Umm, yeah. In about thirty minutes." He answered, chomping on a burger. 

"Got it!" Sportacus smiled. 

Stingy would pick all his favorite things of the plate and save them for last. When Trixie took notice on that, she stole his favorite food and ate it in front of him.  

" _Did you just-!?_ " Stingy couldn't process what just happened in front of him. He became deaf to Stephanie's soothing words. Trixie gave him the most mischievous and pleasant smile ever, by then, _it was irreversible_. The entire building would hear about it.  

" **THAT WAS** ** _MINE_** **!** " The little boy’s yell echoed, creeping under doors and going through keyholes, getting through windows like they weren't even there. 

"Stingy! Someone's gonna call the police!" Stephanie told him. 

"They should! And arrest that _thief_!" Stingy was outraged. 

Trixie was laughing so much she could barely listen to what Stingy had to say.  

"Trixie, that wasn't very nice! You should always ask before doing such a thing." Stephanie tried to reason with her. 

"Trixie doesn't ask for permission." Pixel informed while laughing a bit at Stingy's frustration. 

"No, no. It's okay. I'll ask." Trixie wiped a tear away. "Stingy, can I eat your food?" She asked and ate what he left. "You said I had to ask, not to wait for an answer!" 

That was the breaking point of Stingy's patience, he leaned forward and grabbed Trixie's plate. "Now, this is **_mine_**!" He ate her food as fast as he allowed himself to.  

"Hey!" Trixie yelled at him, standing up. 

"If you don't like it when someone does that to you, **don't** do that to someone!" Stingy sat down.   

Trixie took a deep breath and sat down as well. "Fine..." 

Everyone was pretty much shocked. After a while Ziggy and Stephanie offered their food to Stingy and Trixie.  

"I wish I could have recorded that!" Pixel said. 

The celebration went on into the night, everyone dancing like they'd forgotten how to stand still, everyone but Robbie, of course, who was sitting on a chair, slouching. 

Pixel's parents arrived and Sportacus went to let them in and talk with them for a while.  

Robbie just observed how everything around him developed.  He let out a long breath he didn't even know he'd been holding in, and nodded with a slight smile.  

Sportacus welcomed Pixel's parents who went to talk to Milford and Bessie that had stopped dancing in that moment. Milford was extremely happy because he got to dance with Mrs. Busybody and nothing was going to take that happiness away from him. 

Sportacus went up to dance along with the kids. They were having a blast and Robbie could hear them jabbering with joy and could feel their feet disturbing the ground around him. The kids' smiles extended towards him, attempting to turn his face from who he was focused on, and he didn't notice until the person he was looking at turned around. Sportacus attempted to pull him towards them and Robbie practically kicked his hand away, which was something really funny to witness. The giggle was vibrant and heart warming as it moved around the kids in its chaotic way. Robbie hadn't noticed but his feet moved along the rhythm. 

"I don't really feel like dancing." He said, looking away.  

"But you were almost dancing! We weren't going to leave you all alone there dancing by yourself!" Stephanie smiled brightly. "Come on, Robbie! You should celebrate!" 

"This is my way of celebration. If I want to dance, I'll dance." Robbie looked back at them. He did felt like dancing but he would never dare to admit it. 

 A nice tune came through the speakers, Pixel knew what was fitting, always. Robbie really liked the song, and was almost tempted to move, but he wasn't going to. Extreme concentration on his face.  

"There is no way you can resist to that song." Pixel looked at him, almost about to burst out laughing because of his face.  

 Music could never be something superfluous to Stephanie, the notes flowed easily for her. She recognized the song and the genre, a little smile of enjoyment showed up on her lips. 

"Ziggy, that's not-" Stingy stopped dancing for a bit. "That's not how you dance to this song..." 

"You dance it like you feel it!" Ziggy answered back not even looking at his friend. 

"Yeah! But Stingy _you_ are actually not dancing it like you're _supposed to_ _,_ neither." Stephanie smiled. "Right, Robbie?" Her eyes sparkled with the development of her idea.  

Robbie looked at Stingy, who was sure he was dancing ' _in the right way_ ' and shook his head. "Right." 

"What?" Stingy looked at Robbie in confusion.  

"Show him, Robbie!" Stephanie urged him with a smile. 

"I'm not falling for that, pink girl." Robbie crossed his arms. "Not a chance." 

"But not even Sportacus can do it!" Stephanie knew Robbie would love to beat Sportacus at anything and would take pride on it. "Only you can!" 

"It's true!" Sportacus smiled. 

"I'm sure you can manage..." Robbie crossed his legs. "I think I'll stay right here." 

"Maybe I was wrong..." Stephanie said, turning around to look at Trixie. She winked at her. 

At first Trixie didn't get why was that, but a second later, she understood. You could see what was on her mind frame by frame: at first confusion, then realization, then amazement and after that, the deliciousness of the idea getting on her mind, the corners of her lips fighting a tricky smile, eyebrows slightly raised. That kid's eagerness for trouble is absolutely amazing. 

"Of course you were! There's no way that cranky old man can move!" Trixie said loudly. She knew what buttons to press. 

"But he's an expert!" Stephanie said. 

"Expert my potatoes! He can't dance!" Trixie laughed. "If he dances then I'm a monkey. Hell! the Queen of monkeys!" She bit her tongue. 

"Well, in that case..." Robbie stood up. 

There was no way anyone would have expected Robbie to dance so well. Stephanie had witnessed it once though. She had paid him a visit the other day, she helped him bake a cake and she discovered his hidden ability. 

Kicking his right leg forward, the dark haired man pivoted in a revolving twirl of sharp precision and accurate grace. It was that part of him that came out to feel the vibe of the music. One moment, one brilliant feeling suspended in time. The entirety of his being began moving with clarity and absolute control. He danced like no-one was watching, but of course they all were, all of them mesmerized and astonished. They've all seen stuff that took them by surprise but nothing like this! Stephanie looked so proud.  

There was a delectable moment where Sportacus' face washed blank with confusion. Robbie could just imagine the sparks in his brain, desperately trying to connect the dots and just causing a short circuit instead. Perfectly funny. 

What was actually bothering Sportacus was that he didn't understand how bewitched he was by something so simple. It was just someone dancing, why was it something so fascinating to observe?  

Everyone gave up a round of applause to him. They all celebrated him.  

"But Ziggy, what you said is correct; dance how you feel like dancing!" Sportacus rattled his hair. 

"He's trying to cover up his poor interpretation." Robbie smirked. He walked over to Trixie and looked down at her. "I guess you're the Queen of monkeys, loud girl!"  He pat her head. 

Trixie frowned. "Wait until I get a hold on my old slingshot..." She said softly when he couldn't hear her. 

After a minute Robbie had to sit down. He let himself go, heavily. More like he fell down to the chair. "I need a coffee..." 

"I don't have a coffee maker..." Sportacus shrugged. 

"And that's why I don't like you." Robbie covered his eyes with his arms. 

"Can we drink coffee?" All of the kids asked. 

"No." The adults said.  

"Coffee is for adults." Bessie said softly. 

Stingy didn't understand the use of Bessie's commentary, he still thought he was entitled to drink coffee without any kind of problems.  

"You're too loud to have coffee, you'll never sleep again, you'll bother me forever." Robbie moved one arm to look at them. 

Stephanie frowned. "It's just a bit of coffee! I don't think-" 

" ** _FOREVER._** " Robbie emphasized.  

"Besides, it's getting a _little_ late!" Milford spoke, his attention had been on Bessie during the whole night...And day too, actually. "I'm sure Sportacus would like to go to sleep soon!" 

"And we've already established that Sportaboring doesn't have a coffee maker anyways." Robbie yawned. He was probably not going to sleep easily, despite that yawn. 

"But it's early!" Pixel said. The rest of the kids nodded. Ziggy was actually getting a bit sleepy. 

"Kids...You have school tomorrow." Sportacus looked at his watch. "If you don't go to sleep early you won't have enough energy to go through the day!" He smiled softly at them. 

"So do you!" The kids said, in their defense. 

"And I am going to bed, right after I'm done with the dishes." 

"Somehow this isn't fair..." Trixie said. 

"We'll help you with the dishes." Said Pixel's mom standing up.  

"We want to help too!" Stephanie stepped forward. 

"I have no problem!" Stingy said. 

"Me too." Milford said cheerfully, he turned around to look at his dear Mrs. Busybody. "What about you, Mrs. Busybody?" 

"Oh for crying out loud, Milford! You know that I have to take care of my nails!" Bessie cried. "After so much baking I had to do today! And for nothing!" 

Robbie snorted, with his arms still over his head, only showing his mouth and part of his nose.  

Bessie turned around, with an angry expression on her face, but of course Robbie couldn't see her. 

Sportacus decided to intervene. "Thank you!" He said really loudly, making sure Bessie turned her attention to him. "It's okay Mrs. Busybody, there's enough help around..."  

Bessie came back to her usual calm self. Well, calm doesn't really represent who she is. She's very loud. She has good characteristics but she shows those less. She was used to get what she wanted, maybe that's why she couldn't bear with the idea of loosing that contest, especially having all of that advantage.  

Sportacus' kitchen sometimes would be the loneliest room in his apartment, and now it was full of people and it was a nice feeling for the young man. His apartment was completely functional. The kitchen had white cabinets, all of them filled with dishes, cups and bowls on one side and a pretty box that contained bags of tea, another that contained loose leaf tea and two boxes of carefully placed packs of oatmeal on the other. Truly, no coffee on sight.  

The kids started helping by taking the plates to the sink. Robbie didn't have the minimum intention to help around, he just stayed still on the comfy chair.  Bessie stared at her pretty nails, with no intention to start a conversation with the tall man. 

If the upside to a meal is eating, the downside is the dirty dishes that come afterward but they washed everything in a matter of minutes working together. 

"We should get going, thank you so much for inviting us!" Pixel's parents said as they walked to the door with their son and Ziggy, who they were going to take to his home.  

"It was a pleasure!" Sportacus waved at them as he dried some dishes, just a few. 

"Bye Pixel! Bye Ziggy!" The kids chanted, saying goodbye to their friends.  

"Uncle Milford and I will take Trixie home!" Stephanie said cheerfully. "Maybe next time she can stay over!"  

Trixie smiled deeply, she didn't make friends easily and the idea of someone inviting her to stay over was heart warming. She quietly nodded since she didn't quite know what to say. 

"Bessie should come with us!" Stephanie said, smiling at a nervous Milford. 

"Oh, I thought that was already settled..." Bessie looked a bit surprised as she got into the apartment, leaving Robbie alone in the patio. "Of course! Milford is such a gentleman as always." 

"Of course Mrs. Busybody!" Milford smiled.  

Bessie had a bit of a self centered personality... It was in the way she walked, in the way she talked and in the clothes she wore. Oh, yes... Mrs. Busybody _can_ be descried as self centered, even though she _does_ get into other people's lives. That's her job and pleasure.  She only keeps friends who compliment her. She loves compliments.  

"What about you, _Stinky_?" Robbie got up, stretching. He walked inside, where everyone was. 

" _Stinky?_ " Stingy said in confusion. "Excuse me but are you talking to me? Because if you're referring to my person... First of all my name is Stingy, and second, I am a very clean and fragrant person." 

That Stingy had to clarify that caused a bit of laughter in the room, to which the boy flushed red. He shouldn't have to clarify this common knowledge. 

"Whatever you say, Stinky." Robbie walked past him. "I was just asking because of the elevator's _ghost_."  

" _R_ _o_ _b_ _b_ _i_ _e_..." Sportacus looked up at him, giving him a reproachful look. 

"What ghost?" Stingy asked. 

"There is no ghost, Stingy. Robbie was just joking around." Sportacus tried to reassure him. 

"Spoilsport" Robbie said. 

Sportacus frowned, but he wasn't angry or anything. 

"I'll just go..." Stingy shot a glare at Robbie.  

Everyone walked to the door and one by one said goodbye to Sportacus. 

After Robbie walked through the door Sportacus asked him "Did you like your celebration?" 

"Oh, it was..." Robbie thought for a second, trying to avoid saying something too nice "...good."He said softly. "But I can't wait to go home and throw myself to the sofa."  

Despite being such a sugar lover, Robbie lacked the ability to sugar coat things, but Sportacus knew what he meant. He smiled. "You didn't tell me about the reencounter with Flobby, you seemed really concentrated..." 

"I could tell you... But if I do, it won't be now. Too much of a long story." Robbie walked to the elevator since Stingy was already getting in.  

"Really? It's one floor!" Sportacus said. 

"I'm not listening." Robbie said, as the elevator's gates closed.


	6. Chapter 6

 

Stingy got to his apartment, the lights were off, meaning that his parents would stay at a hotel near their working places. He wasn't surprised, that happened very often. He turned the lights on and left his keys on the key holder on the light colored wall beside the door.  

He let out a little sigh as he closed the heavy entrance door. 

He had to distract himself from thinking about how lonely it was in the apartment, he had just been surrounded by people, even though he couldn't say it was the perfect evening because of what Trixie did, but the contrast was unbearable, so he decided to grab his loyal and beloved piggy bank and count _his_ coins until he fell asleep… But when he was going to get Piggy, that was on the kitchen counter, greeting him with it's little cute face, something caught Stingy's attention: The coffee maker. His _father's_ coffee maker. 

His father never had time to actually make coffee himself, so the little aesthetically pleasing machine was almost unused. Stingy's dad preferred to order a good coffee from some expensive store, well, not himself. He wasn't gonna _spend_ _his time_ waiting in some crowded place for some coffee, someone else would do that for him. He hadn't got to the top of his career in that time by wasting _his_ precious time with trivial matters, after all, he'd always say “ _Time is_ ** _money_** _”._  

The shiny marble counters reflected the coffee maker and Stingy’s little hands trying to reach for the top cabinet above the said machine. He was trying to get the coffee beans. 

He stopped and fixed his clothes, frowning. ‘ _Adults, huh?’_ He looked past the island where Piggy was and localized the “small” table set up in the middle of the room, with six light wooden chairs around it that matched with the room's exquisite theme. Stingy rarely smiled around people, but when he was alone he could do anything he wanted. Not that he wouldn't do what he desired when he was accompanied. But he let a little smile show when he managed to get the coffee from the cabinet.  

It was going to be a different night tonight and only Piggy would know, beside him. 

 

Stingy's eyes opened in confusion. He was alone in an empty classroom with the lights off. His heart racing, his mind empty, waking up from a heavy slumber.  

The rules were easy: “You are responsible for your actions” so if you fell asleep during a class no one was gonna wake you up. His classmates probably laughed but they didn't care enough about him, really. Classes were pretty much intimate, with rarely more than fifteen pupils, sometimes just six or seven. Stingy was extremely organized for a kid and he had an inflexible schedule. He missed his class out of a reckless mistake and he ** _never_** woke up in the best of moods so he immediately tried to find the source of the noise that caused him to wake up.  

It was his phone; Pixel was calling him. 

Stingy rubbed his eyes, sleepily grabbing his phone with one hand and answering the videocall. 

“Aren't you on recess?" Pixel asked. Stingy's camera was showing the room instead of his face. 

"Mhm..." Stingy confirmed. 

Despite knowing each other from before, Pixel and Stingy's friendship was something quite recent. Stingy was reluctant to give his number away, firstly because that wasn't something that people asked him often and also because it was _his_. 

"I lost Jives back at the cafeteria.” Pixel told him, he was going to keep talking but Stingy interrupted him. 

“Cafeteria…” Stingy repeated, trying to turn his brain back on “...comes from the word coffee…in Spanish.... Well, the English term 'cafeteria' came from Latin American Spanish, where it had and still has the meaning of coffeehouse."  

Stingy knows languages, his school offers a demanding bilingual and bicultural education with the language of instruction being French, Latin, or English depending on the student's academic program; however, students may take many language classes while studying there. Stingy excels at Latin, French and obviously at Italian, why of course, he's a Spoilero in the end of things. 

Stingy took his phone from the table, revealing his tiresome face. 

“Woah! What happened to you? You look dreadful!” Pixel said, looking at Stingy's eyebags in what could be described as horror and worry, since it wasn't usual to see Stingy like this. It actually never happened before. The kid took too much precautions of looking his best, following the old saying that said _'_ As they see you they treat you, if they see you ill you're mistreated, if they see you well you get higher _.'_  

“I didn't follow the rules… I drank coffee last night and I haven't slept since.” Stingy said, with a shuddersome tone of regret in his voice. _T_ _his_ _must be why mom and dad do_ _n't_ _dri_ _nk coffee anymore, they_ _learnt the hard way._  

“Turns out some people do need beauty sleep..." Pixel laughed "You drank coffee? If you are not used to-” Pixel tried to lecture him but Stingy cut him off.  

“Ah, anyway, Jives,  the tall fellow…” Stingy said, changing the subject. 

“Fellow?" Pixel laughed "You make him sound like he's an old dude. He's one year older than me.” 

“He's right at the limit of being a teenager.” Stingy said, eager to keep the subject away from him. 

“Says the guy who thinks he's an adult.” Well, that didn't last long. 

“I've been proved wrong.” Stingy snapped, he looked at the screen trying to see the damage of his sleepless night. He was going to need at least two beauty rests now. 

“Trixie and I are gonna go to the arcade after school, wanna come?” Pixel asked. 

“If I stay another hour after school I can get back on..." He yawned "on the class I missed, so no." 

To take the backup class he was going to have to walk to a different building in the large campus, that was as spectacular as you might expect for a school like Segnis School, a fairy tale terrain of winding fields filled with trees that threw shade all year long, with a lake shimmering in the distance and a backdrop of some pretty mountains.   

Stingy walked to the window, not really paying attention to what Pixel was saying. A beacon of light pierced through the mullioned panes of glass, bathing the black and white stone from the floor in a crisscross of iridescent color; illuminating the room.  

_S_ _tepping from black-and-white into Technicolor_ _, huh?_ Stingy thought. That was how people usually described his school. He didn't have to stay there for the first years, but in a matter of time, when his schedule started to get busy, he'd have to stay _in_ the campus. The only thing he really enjoyed doing in that school was talking about his belongings, which was a usual topic of conversation within the students, but he didn't like it when other kids had something he didn't have. Segnis School was much more than a school. It was where children learnt to support the weight of family expectation and responsibility. They taught their students how to be very rich, as well as self-aware, in an uneven world. To accomplish that, the students must, in essence, feel as if they are already masters of their universe. _At least..._ _learning is fun around_ _here._ _T_ _eachers are always ready to help you out and talk to you. They are like second parents._ _.. Or main parents, really._ _There's_ _an indefinable sense of possibility_ _in here_ _—a feeling you could do anything._  

"...I'm serious, the best choice is homeschooling." Pixel said, finishing his rambles, that Stingy payed little attention to. "The only thing you got that is better is the food. Dude, I still can't believe you met Chef Pablo Fantástico! My mom loves that guy!"  

In other words, first school, then the world. 

"Mhmmm... You should invite Ziggy.”  

“Yeah! And I better go find Jives… Maybe I’ll invite him to the arcade too. See ya!” 

“Yeah, bye.” 

The call ended. 

 

Stingy watched his feet take steps across the empty street near the apartment. Of course he had lied when confronted.  

'All of our cars are at an exposition, quite beautiful really. Private, of course. Oh, a car for me? I said I wouldn't need a car to get back home, of course, I want the very best for my family. We are expected to have that bit of responsibility with them, aren't we?' 

He was kicking rocks all the way back home. It wasn't his day. Every time he walked somewhere he had the good fortune of finding money on the ground, at least a coin, but today... Today nothing was working out for the poor little bowtie boy. He felt miserable.  

He kept yawning every five steps he took, his sight was getting blurry.  

'Can this day get-?' No. He didn't finish that sentence. He wasn't dumb enough to attract some kind of disaster with the usual phrase.  

"Money..." He wished out loud. "Money." He repeated. If he found money, then the day was saved. He was getting close to the entrance... but maybe someone lost their money on the elevator, he hoped.  

"Money?" A loud voice said. That made Stingy jump a little.  

"Oh no!" Stingy cried, looking at a girl at the entrance of the building. She appeared to be waiting for someone to open the door for her. "Not you!"  

"Not you again!" Stingy said. 

The girl had a bit of a shabby look though she didn't really look bad, her clothes were patched, a couple of sizes too big and all of it old and none of it matching. She turned around to look at him, examining his face with care. Penny raised an eyebrow, looking at Stingy right in the eyes. "Rich boy?" 

Stingy stood in horror, he hadn't said it, he didn't even thought the whole phrase, why did his day just got worse?!  

"I'm not giving you any money!" He said. "I'm just a kid!"  

"Well, relax, kid! I'm just waiting for someone to open the door! Gee!" Penny put her hands on her pockets. "I mean, I rang the bell and nothing happened!" 

Stingy took his key out of his pocket and opened the door, he got in and he closed it immediately after, while saying "I'm not allowed to let strange people in!" 

Penny was offended. "I'm not strange! And it's 'I'm not allowed to talk to strangers' **_and you know me_** ** _!_** " 

"No, **_I don't!_** " Stingy ran into the elevator. 

"What a drama queen, it's not like I tried to pick-pocket him this time." She said, kicking the floor. 

Tobby was at the back, in the common patio. He wasn't cleaning so much as thinking. He moved like someone who secretly knew how to dance. The air was getting cooler, so he went inside for a moment and that's when he noticed Penny outside the apartment with an imploring look on her face. At the sight of him she gave him a huge smile.   
He smiled back, looking for the keys to the door. 

Penny adores Tobby, but not his lack of money. 

"The doorbell was broken" Tobby explained, letting her in. "Jives told me two days ago and the repairman didn't come by..." His expression was pleasant, nice even. He had an air of ease with himself. 

"Well, there's gonna be people coming to visit so you better stay out here!" Penny said, walking towards the elevator. "I'm in charge of _buying_ stuff for the reunion." She announced. 

"Make sure you don't spend too much kiddo!" Tobby told her. 

"I'll just spend what I'm given!"   

When Penny got to the third floor she knocked on her cousin's door. 

The boy who opened had a stunned look about him, like not long ago he was hanging with the friends he towered over.  Every wisp of hair tucked into his green beanie. He put a face of confusion at the sight of his cousin. With such a lanky frame it looked like he wasn't accustomed to such height, at times, and though his height was man-like, you couldn't possibly mistake him for anything but a boy if you just looked at his face. 

"Shouldn't you be at school?" Penny stared at him. 

He face-palmed. "So what Pixel meant was like, going to the recess? Not h-here?" He mumbled quietly. "Wait, how did you get in?" He asked her. "And what are you doing here?" 

"Lil cousin we gotta go buy the groceries for tonight." She said, pushing him to the side, leaving her little backpack on the recliner in front of her. "And **_no_** ** _cocoa puffs_** _._ " 

" ** _NO COCOAPUFFS?_** " Jives blurted. "B-But... Wait, tonight?"  

"Your mom's birthday?" Penny said as she looked for the money left for her to buy everything they needed for that night. She always looked everywhere for money, anyways. That's why Stingy didn't find a single coin on his way back home; with Penny nearby you could forget about finding money for yourself. 

"It's the twenty-fifth already?" Jives put his hands on his head. "I didn't buy her a present!" 

Every time someone mentioned the word _buy_ or any of it's conjugates, Penny's eyes would shine as bright as diamonds in the sun. 

"We can buy her something on the way back!" She chimed as she put the money she had found on her pockets. "Come on we're gonna be a while buying!"  

She dragged Jives out of the apartment. 

"Wait, I gotta let Pixel know I went home." He's just a very sweet and considerate guy who has a bit of a distracted mind. "What if the dude's waiting for me?" 

"Fine you go do that, I'll wait you downstairs." She said as she hopped to the elevator. "I need someone to carry the bags so don't take long!" 

Market shopping was Penny's favorite time of the week because it was obligatory shopping.  

Jives didn't particularly enjoyed it unless he'd get some cocoa puffs on the shopping cart, but he was always engaged with his responsibilities.  

Jives' mom loved buying vegetables to make the kind of hearty soups that would keep you warm and going for the rest of the day. Like Penny, she bought tons of stuff, but usually it was healthy stuff; she bought until she barely could move but even then some fruit often caught her attention and she ended up with more bags in her hands.  

After a while they came back from the supermarket, Jives carrying most of the bags while Penny thought about what else she would spend money on. 

Jives arrived second to the door, trying to look for the keys with his hands occupied with the heavy bags, he used to not being able to take hold on more than one bag when he didn't eat as well as now. "What can we buy for mom?" He asked his cousin as he battled with his pockets. 

Tobby, who preferred the term 'doorman' instead of 'janitor', opened the door when Jives had finally found the keys. "Oh hey kids, your mom just went upstairs, Jives." He commented. 

"Tobby!" Jives exclaimed "You must know, what can we buy mom for her birthday?" 

"For your mom?" Tobby shrugged. 

"We really need your help" Penny said, since she wasn't sure on what to do. 

Tobby thought for a moment "There's a flower shop there, does she like flowers?" He finally said pointing to the front street. 

Jives smiled. "Totally yo! She loves flowers! I'll just..." He went and left the bags on the floor. "...leave these here for a moment and go check them out."  

The kids crossed the street and observed the flowers for a minute until they decided to get in. Tobby observed them from the entrance. 

After a few minutes Jives went back to the building without the last of the big spenders by his side. He went to Tobby frowning. "Dude this is complicated..." He dropped "...and Penny is just seconds away from buying the whole store." He looked back at the flower shop scratching the top of his beanie. "The poor dude is running around the place trying to show her everything they've got."  

Tobby scratched his neck and bit his lip, but he went to sort things out. 

You could hear Penny jabbering about what she wanted from outside the store. Rottenella was at the back listening to what was happening on the store and Bobby was actually running around trying to help his possible costumer. 

The little bell made it's distinctive sound when Tobby and Jives went inside.  

Bobby turned around to welcome the new costumers and his eyes widened at the very vision of Tobby. He tried to hide his expression of stunned surprise and immediately fixed himself as he could.  

"Hi." He said quietly, as if his voice was trying to hide from the outside world. 

"Umm, hi." Tobby said.  His eyes shone brightly making Bobby want to get to know the person within. Bobby kept staring at him. An awkward silence settled over them. At a given moment Bobby realized he was staring too much and so did Tobby. Unsettled eyes glanced around and tried to avoid catching each other's glances, and Tobby didn't know what to say until he caught Penny's voice coming from the blurry background.  

Tobby cleared his throat and called Penny and walk past Bobby to get to where she was standing. 

"Penny..." He spoke softly. "You can't take all of that." 

But Penny always spent her money as if it were burning a hole in her pocket. 

Rottenella walked out of the back to take charge of the situation.  

"Maybe you'd like something small..." She said. "There's plenty to choose but your best option isn't taking everything if it's just for one person."  

Penny frowned. 

"And I'm sure you haven't noticed, but you broke a little vase back there." She said sharply, pointing at the ceramic scattered on the wooden floor. 

"Allow me to pay for that." Tobby said looking for his wallet. "How much is it?" 

"There's no need for that!" Bobby jumped in. "If it were the flowers or plants the ones that were damaged, that'd be different. But it's just a little vase..." 

"I'm really sorry..." Penny shrugged. 

"Jives." Tobby called. "What do you think of this flowers, buddy?" 

Jives had left some of his money on the counter without anyone noticing, to make account on the broken vase.  

"That one's totally radical." He said pointing to a little cactus. 

"That's an artichoke cactus!" Bobby walked to where Jives was. "It's quite the rare little fella, it takes it's time to grow, ya know?" 

"Cool!" Jives smiled. "I think mom would like this one. Flowers seem more complicated..." 

"Every single plant is complicated, they're all unique!" Bobby chuckled. "Ya need to know how to take care of them." 

"I'll take care of the ticket, Uncle, you can tell them what cares does it need." Rottenella walked to the computer. 

Penny payed while Bobby talked to Jives about the little cactus. 

"This is yours?" Rottenella asked, pointing to the money on the counter.  

"I left it there, for the vase." Jives shrugged. 

"You can take it back." 

"Would you mind if I came back some time? I'd like to learn more about these." Jives said, holding on to the little cactus. 

"You're looking for someone to help around, right?" Tobby asked. 

Bobby and Ella nodded. 

"Maybe Jives can do that. He's a good kid, I'm sure that if ya give him a chance he'll be of real help!" Tobby said. 

"I think we could teach him some things, so it's a good idea!" Bobby said, pushing at the back of his head the thought of how he said he was going to do those complicated interviews his favorite magazine wrote about in the last issue, and that now he was willing to believe in this guy's word just like that.  

"And sorry for all the trouble we caused ya." There was a gentleness in Tobby's voice that made Bobby's heart reach out. 

"It's okay! No trouble at all!" Bobby smiled gently. He bit his lip. Then in that instant Tobby turned and caught his eye; before he could turn away with shyness a genuine grin spread across Tobby's face, turning it from handsome into divine. In that moment Bobby felt his face flush warm. 


	7. Chapter 7

It was a fine Wednesday afternoon and Jives had had a nice day so far, he was getting ready to go over to the small flower shop across the street. He was excited about learning new things, especially after the success his gift had had.  

Today it was his mom's birthday so he tried to make it as calm as possible for her and he'd done a good job.  

He didn't know what to expect and he decided to walk down the stairs instead of taking the elevator; that would help him clear his mind of worries, he thought. He also took that chance to say hi to his friend and tell him about his plans for that day, since they would get in between their usual agenda which was playing games online on an open world map, being one of the best teams in it. 

He knocked on the door.  

“Hey!” His friend Pixel greeted him with a wide smile and they did their enthusiastic handshake standing opposite to one another. 

“Hey man!” Jives said. “Yo I totally forgot to tell you that I won't be for the game today dude, sorry!” 

“Oh.” Pixel exclaimed. “It's okay dude, I'll get some backup.” He grinned. “You never miss a game...” He said thoughtfully, “...did something happen?” 

“Oh, no, yo! I just like, got a jo- Well, I think I got a job, maybe? I don't know…” Jives said, confused as he tried to explain. 

“How can you not know for sure? You got a callback?” Pixel questioned. 

“I don't know dude, I just bought a cactus.”  

“That only brings more questions than answers…” 

“I wanted to learn about plants and stuff and Tobby totally got me a job somehow, or an interview, like, right now.” 

“Oh, man... but are you ready?” Pixel asked worriedly. 

“Ready...?” 

“I mean, as far as I know, interviews are hard!” 

“Oh man, really?” Jives covered his eyes. “I thought it was gonna be really chill.. Dude, I'm not ready for this kind of pressure!" He bit his nails nervously. "...But I can't just not show up!” He dropped. “What should I do? You need to help me out, you're the smartest dude I've ever known.” He said heartily, with sincerity.  

“Well… First of all you have to look real good, you're not gonna be able to wear _the hat_ …” Pixel said, pointing at Jives' head. 

“Beanie.” Jives corrected, “…and why not? You know I get totally uncomfortable without it!” 

“Well, we'll think of something…” Pixel said, knowing that what his friend said was nothing but the truth. “Come on in, do you even know when the interview is?” He asked, determined to help him 

“No.” 

 

As Jives left Pixel's apartment he turned around to look at his friend, frowning. “I have no clue of what you just said…” 

“Just don't talk meme.” 

“How? At this point I don't even know when I'm talking meme! It's out of my control, it's part of my life!” Jives scratched his head. “I'm totally gonna get nervous and start singing the Reese's Puffs' rap!” 

“Well, that's your hidden talent, maybe they'll like it.” 

Jives shrugged. 

“Come on dude you're gonna be great! Just be your usual chill self!” 

“Thanks dude… I will!” He forced out a smile, to reassure his friend and himself.  _I'll try to not freak out…_  

Jives greeted Tobby on his way out, thanking him for the opportunity. 

Tobby felt proud of Jives, he'd known that kid since he was six years old and he'd seen him grow taller and grow older. Tobby took his phone to write down an idea it just occurred him. 

Before he even realized it, he had come to look back at everything in a nostalgic tone. On that day, Jives seemed so grownup.  

The tall boy took every step consciously, but trying to give himself enough courage to not be afraid of things. He could do it. He was gonna give his best, at least, and that was enough. 

He pushed the door and found Rottenella behind the counter, looking at the computer. She looked up, expecting a client, and looked back down, disappointed, when she saw Jives walk in. 

She didn't address to him, her eyes falling on the screen in front of her.  

Jives put his hands in his pockets waiting for some kind of response to his arrival. 

"Umm... Hello." He spoke softly. 

"Uncle Bobby will interview you in a moment." She said, not taking her eyes off the screen. 

"Ah..." Jives nodded. "Thanks for letting me know and giving me this chance, I guess..." 

"You should tell that to him, not me." She smirked. "Maybe he'll make it easier that way." She shot Jives a glare. "He can be bloodcurling sometimes."  

That was a complete lie. 

Jives could feel the tension and anxiety build up in him as she stared at him and he immediately took off his beanie, trying to follow Pixel's advices.  

"Bloodcurling?" He asked nervously.  

"Nightmarish, scary, intimidating... As you will..." She was trying to scare him off. "Why do you think we need a new guy, huh?" 

Before the panic could start eating him alive he realized something. "Wait, didn't you guys totally open like... this week?" 

Rottenella bit her tongue. She blushed hard on being discovered, so she didn't answer and looked away. 

It was in that moment that Jives managed to catch up on his breath and relaxed for a moment. He put his beanie back on, smiling softly at the comfy feeling it brought.  

"The zinnias are getting prettier every time I look at them!" Bobby appeared from the door at the back, he'd been busy since that old lady came with that request, she'd put a good word for him and his store, bringing some more clients in. "Oh!" 

The tall man on the apron welcomed Jives in, with a bright and encouraging smile he sat him down for a few simple questions that Jives totally answered correctly and decided they were ready to start the day. 

"Well, I think Bessie would approve." He said gleely, looking back at Ella as he walked to the back, showing Jives the new flower pots he had prepared. He was referring the articles from his favorite magazines, all of them written by Bessie Busybody. 

"Just stop." She answered back. 

"We'll be at the back, and then you..." He grinned at Jives. "...can go home early!" 

Rottenella wasn't pleased at how the things had turned out, she was having a boring day so far and her attempts to change the course of things had been sabotaged by her own lack of credibility on Jives.  _Probably Uncle Bobby will try to make me befriend him._ She thought and frowned at the idea. 

After an hour Jives came back from the back with a content smile on his face, so far he was really enjoying this experience and he wasn't gonna hide it. He sat down on one of the chairs around the coffee table and made himself comfortable. 

Rottenella tried to ignore his presence. She tapped the table musically, following the rhythm of the song coming from the speakers.  

Jives preferred awkward conversation over awkward silence so he was determined on getting a good topic of conversation in that moment, he looked at Ella who was  simultaneously peering at him and tapping her fingers on the table harmonically. 

"Yo, do you think a zombie apocalypse could be possible?" Jives asked, breaking the silence. 

"Okay, that's it." Rottenella rolled her eyes at him. 

"I think it would be totally not dope to be in a world like that." Jives said. "Maybe if you were a zombie that had no feelings that would be easier than being alive in that situation..." 

"Halfway there, then." Rottenella said. "Look, you don't need to make conversation. We could just stay in silence until your break is over." 

"Yo! Silence is good when there's no awkwardness to it..." Jives dropped down in the chair. "I mean, we are like co-workers or something now... and I don't even know your name!" 

"I know  _your_  name." She said after a while.  _Your name should be yo-yo, though..._ She thought. "Jives." 

"That's totally cool yo, I didn't think you'd remember!" Jives smiled brightly. "Will you tell me yours?" 

Her lips moved but the sound was interrupted by something else. 

Flobby entered the room making the bell sound and Jives stood up almost too quickly, sending a sharp pain to his knee as he achingly jerked it on the coffee table next to him while getting up. Flobby waved at Ella and she smiled at his presence.  

"I'm really glad you came, I've been getting really tired of this. Did you know he made me put all of the versions available of La Vie En Rose since last night!?" She said loudly looking back at the garden where Bobby was currently working. 

"I heard ya!" Bobby answered. "And you know I can go back to Mindy Gledhill." 

"At least you could  _pronounce_  Mindy Gledhill's songs! Your so called French offends me" 

That last commentary made things worse because now Bobby was singing really loud. 

"I don’t think I can handle another love song… It's like Valentine's day but without the delicious chocolate." The girl huffed. 

Jives let out a little chuckle and went to introduce himself to Flobby. He didn't know sign language so Ella tried to translate for him. Flobby was seconds away from using his old notebook, which he hadn't used much lately when Rottenella spoke to him. "You said you were here to talk to Uncle Bobby, I think you better go do that now before the neighbors call the cops on us because of his insufferable screeching." 

Flobby excused himself and walked out to the garden. 

"He seems cool... Sorry for the inconvenience!" Jives spoke, scratching his nose. "And thanks for translating me what he said..." 

Rottenella nodded silently, walking to the back. 

Jives felt a little sad because he was someone who people usually befriend easily after they see how he really is, and she couldn't care less about being friends even if they were going to be seeing each other a lot more from that moment. He felt even worse when he thought he hadn't heard her name. Delicate steps made him turn around. 

She came back with what was left of the sunflower cake and two little plates. She served the cake and gave him a plate with a piece. 

"Yo! You brought that for me!?" Jives said blissfully, accepting the cake by all means.  

Rottenella wasn't too much expressive really, so she just ate the cake with her usual poker face. She hadn't planned on bringing the cake, much less for some kid she just met but when she was in the small room, she thought of taking a piece of the cake for herself.  

She took the cake with her hands and a little folded paper fell to the ground. Being her curious self she took the note and read it, not minding to read to who this was addressed to.  

 _'If things go well I'll hire the kid and you'll be able to get back to your ballet classes. We can celebrate with the last bit of the cake, I think it'll be fitting.'_  

She read. The note ended with a happy face. 

"This is delicious, dude!" Jives said as he munched on the exquisite cake. "Sorry about that." He spoke after finishing. "I didn't mean to call you dude, I didn't get your name..." 

"I'm Rottenella." She said softly.  

Jives gave her a friendly grin as he stood up and walked to her, he held out his hand. 

She looked at it, and then at him.  _At least he's not hugging me._  She extended her hand out but didn't shook his. She only shook hands to make deals. She thought for a moment and shook his hand. She made a secret deal that she hoped  the tall kid could keep even if she didn't tell him about it. 

With the tight grip Jives was beginning to feel much better. "We can talk about anything you want!" 

"A handshake doesn't mean I'll spend my time talking with you." She scoffed. "It just means that you're welcome here now." 

"That's good enough for the time being!" Jives said. He wanted to believe that her harsh ways weren't her whole self. 

Bobby's voice could be heard as he walked to the room alongside Flobby. Flobby had all his attention on Bobby, while Bobby looked worried. Rottenella suspected the reason why he was worried and she grabbed her arm, trying to numb the thought and feeling away, Jives noticed that and a bit of a jarring feeling came over him. Her face fell with the weight of the truth about her situation.  _Things weren't getting better._  

 

“Hey Robbie!” A voice said, making Robbie realize he wasn't alone, and making him take a step back from surprise. He was headed to the elevator, a bag on his left hand.  

“Sportaflop, hey.” He looked back at his neighbor, who was wearing one of his usual out-of-taste athletic outfits that Robbie detested, blue being the color standing out. “Going out for a walk?” He usually hated small talk but he really didn't want to get back to his apartment because that would mean he'd have to continue with his responsibilities and chores, and  _nope_ , no time for that,  _anything_  to avoid that. 

“More like a jog than a walk, but yes!” His eyes wide as the word _jog_  rolled out of his mouth, he really loved moving. 

“Of course. Should have expected that from you.” Robbie tried his best no to roll his eyes at Sportacus' usual behavior. 

“I see that you went out!" His eyes fell to the bag of groceries Robbie held. "That's great!” 

“I'm getting visits today…” Robbie bit. 

“I can tell, with that amount of chips and candy…” He gave him a little look, it was roughly one of reproach but it tried to be. 

If Sportacus knew that what he was carrying was what he usually ate himself, alone, he probably would get a heart attack.  _'Not a bad idea'_  

“Is it a party?” The eager man wondered out loud. 

“If it were a party you’d be the first to know.” Robbie said. “Not because you would be invited, Sportaloon." He added, pink on his cheeks, when he saw that the other man was looking at him in a strange way, with a bright smile that made Robbie feel dizzy. "But because we're neighbors and _I_ , unlike others, follow the rules… _Mostly_. _Sometimes…_ ” His voice got softer since he remembered that he wasn't the one to follow rules easily. 

Sportacus tilted his head .“If you need help with anything just ask, ok?”  He opened the door. 

“I don’t need nor want your help, Sportaflop.”  Robbie shunned. 

“Fine, Robbie…” The athletic man walked out the door, giggling for a bit. 

“ _I_ _still_ _hate you so much_.” Robbie said softly, looking back at where the other man stood a minute ago. His voice sounded sour, bitterness in the sentence. He sighed, as he waited for the elevator to come down.  

He started looking for his keys inside the elevator, why did he put them back in his pocket when that buffoon showed up?, he wondered. He took long steps, slouching, walking to his flat's door. He tried to open it, with his left hand occupied with the bag, but his sudden clumsiness didn't let him do a good job, he didn't want to make noise keeping in mind that his neighbors might just go out to see what he was doing. He put the bag on the floor and managed to open the door.  

He walked in the apartment; it was more-less tidy today.  He threw the groceries' bag on the table as he walked to the sofa after he closed the door behind him. He occupied his sofa in the most comfortable way he found and stretched himself a little. He would get things ready later, now it was time to relax.  

A yawn came over him, he was doubting about putting something more comfortable on, because he knew that later he wouldn't want to change back to his usual sharp clothing. Ah, sitting down for a bit wouldn't crease his clothes  at all, he thought, he always wore the perfect fabric to be lazy anyways.  

His phone made a buzz, and he sat up to unblock it, hand on his cheek, checking the new message that had just came in. He let out a groan of unhappiness since it all seemed as he wouldn't be able to rest at all. He didn't move for a while, rejecting the idea.  

He looked back at the phone and rolled his eyes at it, as if the phone was recriminating him for not doing what he was supposed to do. He stood up grabbing the cellphone and walked to the door, putting his jacket on and reaching for the keys. He came back a while after with a precious little cake. 

He dropped his jacket on the sofa and went to the kitchen to  turn the coffee maker on, for himself. He cleared the table in a sloppy and kind of mediocre way.  

Impressions always mattered but they were nothing but merely impressions, as long as the table looked clean it didn't really matter if it was actually clean or not. 

The intercom rang, indicating his visitor's expected arrival. He didn't bother to answer and went straight downstairs to let his friend in. 

As soon as he opened the door a few unescapable sneezes took over him, as soon as he stopped sneezing he glared at his friend who looked at him innocently.  

"It's because you were on the flower shop..." Another sneeze. 

Flobby shrugged. 

"Let's just hope it goes away." Robbie covered his nose to stop another group of sneezes.  

He welcomed him to his apartment without much formality. 

Flobby acted politely ,as always, but Robbie could note that he wanted to get straight to business. He signaled him to sit down.  

"I made a few calls, asked around. I got the idea, but I think it would be better if we had the actual experts over." He said going to check on the coffee. "...So I called the best option you have... You want tea, right?" 

Flobby nodded. 

Robbie put the kettle on the stove and took a few steps back to open the cabinets, looking for the sugar for his coffee."The guy's working for half an hour more, but he'll let me know when he's getting out. Maybe you can call your friend over..." He said, to which his friend shook his head frenetically.   

"You haven't told him about what you're doing..." Robbie put his head in his open hand but before he could say anything else, his phone made a buzz followed by a ringtone that made him rush to the table to stop the phone from making another sound.  

Flobby knew that 'She is a Maniac' wasn't Robbie's default ringtone and that his behavior towards that message or call weren't the usual neither. You wouldn't caught Robbie running for nothing in the world yet this simple thing overthrew that fact. He sprinted to get that.  _Sprinted._  

  _I regret giving him my number._ After Robbie caught some air, he unlocked his phone, which he decided to put in vibration mode, and rolled his eyes as he opened the message. He read it and soon after he squinted his eyes. 

"Does he think I care about that-? What even is that?" The words escaped him, softly. 

'It made me think of you.' 

A blush came into Robbie's face when he re-read the text, but it wasn't something to be noticed easily, thankfully. He tried to recover his seriousness for a bit and thought of what to answer. He usually never answered to the poor guy's messages but this time he couldn't stop the feeling telling him that he needed to say something back.  

Flobby was staring at him and he was getting flustered. He didn't know what to write back so he sent an emoticon in a haste. A second later, his phone buzzed again. 

 _He was waiting for an answer, huh... I wonder..._  

A dainty grin showed up on the corners of his lips. 

He really couldn't help to wonder if this enthusiastic guy waited for an answer every time he sent a message, especially knowing how Robbie was all the time. Robbie gloomed over the thought, putting his hand on the back of his neck, not minding to read the answer and putting his phone in his pocket. He felt like an idiot, maybe he was acting like one... 

Flobby picked up on that. 

"Anyways... Your tea." Robbie walked back to the kitchen. "I doubt I have the old caramel truffle tea you liked. It's been a while." 

Robbie resonated on the last sentence he said. 

 _It had been a while_. 

A while since the last time he had talked with his friend, despite knowing each other for almost two years now. Over the past few months, there had been a subtle shift that was hard for them to admit, still harder to explain, since there wasn't a specific reason, it was just one of those things that happen. Of course, if you ask Flobby about Robbie he'll only say good things about him, and he still thinks highly of him. If you ask Robbie about Flobby,  _after a few complaints of how much he wishes not to be bothered_ , he'll tell you all that is good about the guy; yet there isn't a relationship as it was before; when they just met... And Flobby would cling onto Robbie a bit, after all ,Robbie was one of the few that actually knew sign language and it was  more comfortable for the shorter man that way. Flobby's presence in Robbie's life wasn't too much of a bother for the taller man since Flobby would always give Robbie enough space to do his things. Sometimes they would clash: Robbie would complain about Flobby's calmness towards their co-workers and their idiotic jokes and stupidity and Flobby claimed that he didn't need someone to fend for him, the little fellow always had an ace up his sleeve yet he never played it to his gain.  

The tall man looked for a cup to serve his coffee. 

Robbie just started to desist on social interaction, he didn't feel like initiating plans with Flobby because he didn't have much to say to him, he didn't feel like informing him about his resignation plans either. Outside the office most of their interactions were via brief texts, and Flobby would casually mention a "getting together soon", but neither of them would act on it.  

It was never like those friendships in movies but it wasn't a bad friendship either, and putting the brakes on it because he'd outgrown it didn't mean they'd never speak again — it just meant that right in that moment, getting some space made sense. 

It made sense because he was lost and selfish, he thought sorely, and he  _couldn’t bear to have anyone in his life who believed in him... So he just drifted away from everybody._  

 Robbie chugged down the scorching hot drink, he didn't want to think about it.  

"Speaking of tea..." He said, taking the kettle off the stove. "Remember the neighbor I had- Actually, you met him, right... The blonde guy, umm... He was wearing a blue shir- well, he always wears blue... He's basically a blue kangaroo. With his moving and flippity floppity... " 

Flobby observed the movements Robbie made to describe this person, he knew who he meant. He'd seen the man but barely payed any attention to him. A slight suspicion formed in his mind while Robbie talked. The thought caught him as a surprise, a nice surprise, really, he never thought about it. Maybe he didn't consider it possible. He contained a little grin since he knew  that the other man would notice.  

"...Anyways he has a bunch of tea. A lot. And no coffee." Robbie finished. 

"You  complement each other." He couldn't help to tease his friend about it. 

"What do you mean?" Robbie's eyebrow twitched. 

"Nothing, nevermind me." He signed. 

"I don't know what you meant by that... But whatever idea you're getting into that head of yours, you better lay it off. I know that you don't say things just for the sake of saying them." 

"I didn't mean anything by it, Robbie." 

Robbie squinted his eyes at him, but he let it pass. "Good, because I don't complement anyone." He went back to look through the cabinets. 

"Okay, I don't have the tea..." The lanky man sighed. "But I have cake. Who needs anything else when you have cake?" 

They waited patiently, accompanied with that beautiful cake, shame it had cherries on top. Robbie hated cherries, so he always picked them off.  

Robbie welcomed Thomas in. The lawyer had his suitcase in hand, he didn't plan to stay for much time. He was doing this for courtesy and because Robbie Rotten asked him. He took a few steps forward, as indicated by Robbie. 

 "Tom, be kind and explain the current situation, please. This is Flobby, he is almost your potential client. Act on that." 

Before the lawyer started talking Robbie interrupted again. 

"I'll set up the bases so we're all on the same page. This is basically what I got from you..." He said, talking to Flobby.  

"Actually..." Thomas spoked. "Interrupt me if I got things wrong, but I'll tell you what I got...Since my actual potential client isn't here..." He cleared his throat. "Bobby doesn't want the custody, not completely..." 

Flobby cut him off instantly but Robbie signaled him to wait. 

"He loves his niece and he hates the father, but it's not the right thing to do, and for what Robbie told me, and he met the guy once, he is the kind of guy that would put others before him. Starting by that and the fact he isn't here to discuss this I'd say..." 

"Don't put this on Bobby because I know where you are going with this." Robbie shot Thomas a glare. "He doesn't think her father is all bad and it's not fair on the guy because that's his only daughter, but you should know that when your daughter not only runs away from you, and not in a tantrum way, but in a real way, where she literally went away to a different city without telling you... she doesn't appreciate your behavior. " 

Tom sighed, opening his suitcase and sitting down to take some papers off it. "According to what you said...The three of them miss the mother, they could try to work on that. If the father wants his daughter back he's gonna have to learn to listen." 

"Who's side are you on? The father wants to cut Bobby off completely and you are here to make that not happen!" Robbie said, getting tired. 

"I apologize if this sounds so blunt, but this is what I do, I can't afford to do emotions." Sometimes he'd get the most unbelievable sob stories from the people that went looking for him and he hated that. The lawyer glanced down at his paperwork as if reviewing the options before him. He'd learnt to  _perform_  in order to assuage potential clients who were likely to display emotions on being rejected. "Legally, he doesn't have a chance." He said finally. "It would be best if he simply tried to fix things up by talking." Tom glanced up, serious, "I've been over the numbers and I'm sorry man but I can't do it, I can't risk to face a certain fiasco against  _that_  family, not for all the money in the world. I wish you the best of lucks..." He stood up, grabbing his papers and putting them back to his case. "...But I won't do it." 

Robbie was seconds away from punching Thomas in his pretty nose. Flobby stopped him, discretely. He walked up to the man in the sharp suit and shook his hand. 

He gets it. 

He thanked Thomas for having the amiability to show up and say those things face to face. He feared that that would happen, and if that was really the best option they had, they were screwed. It was a fact he didn't want to conceive.  

He thanked Robbie for his help, and went back home at the same time Thomas did.  

 

 

The store had gone silent except for the speakers still filling the room with soft music. 

Rottenella's eyes stared without really looking, a glimpse of alertness in them, her hand still clenched to her arm by subconscious demand, something that made Jives feel uneasy. 

The boy called her name softly, taking a cautious step towards her. He was free to go home but he wouldn't allow himself to do so before making a change in the gloomy situation. 

She looked up at him quickly, as if she just snapped out of a trance that she didn't want to be in. He looked at her as if asking if it was okay for him to take another step, and in response to her silent reply he put his hand softly on her shoulder as a token of his sympathy. As soon as that happened she loosened her grip. 

He thought he would leave her be in the first burst of her hidden emotions but he spoke up instead. 

"Maybe I should stay..." He said. 

"Or you could just go... I'm fine. Don't worry about it, I know you feel compelled to be concerned, but I don't like it much." She had a kind of brutal honesty at speaking her thoughts that tested most friendships, but Jives appreciated it so far. He could know where he stood with her. "Go have fun, do your stuff, I don't care."  

He removed his hand from her shoulder. 

Bobby walked past them, trying to work on whatever he found to be slightly unfinished, trying to keep himself busy to hide his worry so that his niece wouldn't feel it as well. 

Jives got the feeling that she had few friends to not say any friends at all. After all, they had moved no long ago. 

"What about you?" He asked.  

"I'll just stay here." She replied. 

"Or maybe you could come over..." He thought of what to say. "Me and a friend play this super awesome game..." He wanted to distract her from whatever it was that was making her feel as jittery as she was, and he knew that being locked up in the store was also making her feel that way.  

Bobby heard that last sentence. His chest felt lighter, he turned around to look at them. 

"...I think you're totally gonna like it!" Jives was convinced. 

"I think that's a great idea!" Bobby said, walking up to them. "You should go pumpkin!"  

He put his hand gently over her head. "You will behave, won't ya?" He smiled blithely. 

She rolled her eyes at him, slowly going back to her usual self.  

"But what about you?" She elbowed him. "What about the store?" 

"There's not much to do around here today, I can handle." He reassured her. "Go." 

"Fine, then." She was only going because she knew how the situation was getting and how frustrating things could become for the both of them. She wasn't expecting to have fun, she just wanted to not be a burden to her uncle, not this time.  

She walked to the door with her new frie-, _associate._ Bobby looked back at them- This was the closest Ella got to befriending someone, it was a shame that the cause of this was mainly an adversity that none of them wanted to face at the moment. 

"You're totally gonna love it, yo!" The tall boy claimed. "We can have some Froot Loops or Cocoa Puffs, whichever you like best!" He stopped on the door and looked back at Bobby. "You can pick her up later, sir!" Jives said, with a beaming smile on his face. He opened the door and waited for Rottenella to go out. She always walked so gallantly yet delicately.  

They stopped at the curb and looked both ways before crossing the street.  

"I personally love Cocoa Puffs, if I were to have a kryptonite it would be Cocoa Puffs!" Jives talked and Rottenella tried her best to pay attention to what he was saying. "Though they wouldn't be exactly a literal kryptonite because I think they make me stronger and not weak like some people might say..." 

She didn't have an opinion about cereals that much, but she did like chocolate. "Anything with chocolate must be good..." She tried to add up to the conversation. 

"Right?" The boy said with much excitement, which surprised Ella, who wasn't used to such overjoyed feedback after she spoke her mind if it wasn't coming from no other person that wasn't her uncle or Mr. Fumbly. 

"It's really good to help you remember things better..." She said. 

"And it usually makes you feel better too!"  

They were at the building's entrance and Jives went through his pockets looking for his keys. 

"I think you could use some chocolate right now." He commented, as he let her in. 

She nodded, defeated.  

"You don't mind using the stairs, do you?" Jives asked and she shook her head.  

"I don't want to occupy the elevator when someone else might be needing it more than me, and we can knock on my friend's door that way too." He explained. "He lives on the second floor." 

"Wait, where do you live?" She asked. 

Jives smiled at Rottenella being less harsh than she was before. "On the third floor." 

"Huh... I suppose it's cool to know who lives below you." She said. "I have no idea of who my neighbors are... Makes you think." 

"About?"  

They were walking up the stairs. 

"What if one of them was actually a criminal or something?" She said. "Uncle Bobby likes to watch TV, those shows, he watches one like Nightmare Next Door, I can't remember the name... And he's had some weird neighbors, actually."  

"That's quite the thought yo!" Jives proclaimed. "Good thing I know most of my neighbors or I would get paranoiac about that! Ah, here." He went to Pixel's apartment door and knocked. 

"Two's company but three's a crowd, don't you think?" She said, looking at her shoes. 

"I think three is a good number, like the three musketeers." He smiled at her. "He said he was gonna call another friend because I told him I wasn't going to be able to be around for when we usually play, if that makes you feel better.” 

Rottenella didn't want to be there, she didn't see a use of her being there, yet there she was. 

"Oh, yo Pixel!" Jives greeted his friend. "This is Ella, I invited her, is that cool with you?" 

"Hey, ah, sure, I guess. 'Name's Pixel." The boy introduced himself. "You were around on the day of the cake contest, right? I think I saw you there." 

"Yes, and my Uncle has a flower shop across the street, maybe you saw me there too." She said. 

"Well, come on in!" Pixel said. "I invited Trixie over, thought you wouldn't make it."  

"Got out early!" Jives smiled. 

"But you did get the job, as I said you would." It was a triumph, so he smirked - just a small smirk; a narrowing of the eyes and a tilting of the head. 

"Wouldn't have done it without you." 

Pixel pressed a few buttons on his smart watch. Seconds later, the TV was on. "It's better to play here if it's going to be the four of us."  

"I'm not playing." The girl said. 

"Whaaaat?" Jives asked loudly. "But- It'll be fun! Have you played it before?" 

"No, but I know what I like, and I'm sure I won't have fun playing videogames. I'll just be observing.” 

“It's fine by me.” Pixel said. 

“But…” 

“I came here because my Uncle asked me, no other reason. I appreciate the gesture, though.” 

“Okay... But make yourself an avatar and save it for some other time… If you don't like the design, then I'll gladly agree that you won't like the game.” 

Rottenella wanted to say that there wouldn't be another time, but she restricted herself from doing it so. 

“Sometimes making the avatar is the best part of these games, this one let's you do anything you want!” Jives said, selecting one of the games from Pixel's account. 

“Alright then…” 

Pixel stayed quiet for a while, trying his best not to be uncomfortable. Sometimes he'd get nervous when around new people. 

After a while of letting Jives take the lead, Pixel popped into the conversation the tall boy and the girl where having about the game. When he was sure about what he was talking about he didn't get uncomfortable at all. Knowing was his confidence booster. 

“You must really be a geek… not that it's a bad thing, just pointing it out... Not that there's a need to, really.” 

Pixel had the newest version of glasses with built in computer, ear buds plugged into glasses, and a T-shirt with technologic and futuristic logo on it. 

“He's a futuristic geek!” 

“Don't- Jives, don't sing the song…” 

“Awe, okay. But it's totally a good song.” 

“No, it's not.” 

“Tell him it is a good song." 

"I don't even know what song you're talking about..." 

Pixel blushed hard and for a minute he thought his face was on fire. He suddenly felt awkward and coy. He turned his face in an attempt to hide his embarrassment and addressed to both. 

"Let's go back to the game!" He said. 

And they did. Rottenella actually liked the design of the game. She wasn't much into gaming, she didn't care about videogames at all, to be honest. After a while, she actually got into the game. The character she had created, almost purposely avoiding the advice Jives and Pixel gave her, was moving pretty well around the map. Jives and Pixel made a bet with her, they thought her character wouldn't survive more than a minute in any fight. She proved them wrong, after she got a hold of the controls. Surprisingly they were having a good time.  

Jives had gone to his apartment to look for some snacks. 

Trixie arrived shortly after that, quite shocked to see Rottenella there. She'd recognized her instantly, how could she forget, she remembered anyone that she disliked from the start. She made a few hurtful jokes right in the moment she went to sit beside her. 

There was a tension in the air, to some degree.  

But they were still just kids, they tried to see past that, especially after Jives urged for it. He rejected all kinds of bullying and wasn't going to tolerate Trixie mistreating his new friend when they could just have fun for once. 

After closing the store, Bobby decided it was time to pick Rottenella up. He hadn't noticed that Tobby was still around, making time. His mind was deep in other matters. 

The sun had gone down, the stores were closing, and moments ago the sky was red, orange and pink. The breeze blew cold announcing the days to come. The starry night above was spectacular. Few cars passed the area, it was calm and Bobby had already crossed the street when he realized he hadn't asked for the floor number, it was late, he sighed at the thought of bothering the neighbors when Tobby appeared behind the glass door. He opened it with a smile. 

"Ah, hey." Tobby spoke, "Need any help?" 

A startled Bobby looked at him, "Ummm... Jives' floor?" 

"Number three, apartment B." Tobby pointed out in the intercom. 

"Ah, thanks." Bobby pressed the button.  

They both waited for an answer for a moment and nothing happened. 

"Oh, right!" Tobby exclaimed taking his hand to his head. "The intercom is broken..." 

Bobby seemed exhausted, but only in the moments he couldn't hide it. Tobby frowned in empathy, "I could go knock on his door..." He tried to help, "Or I could let you in, it's a bit chilly out here."  

"N-No, it's okay. I'll just call her, she surely has her phone with her." Bobby said as he looked for his phone.  

Tobby stared at him, inconspicuously. The street lights gave Bobby an amazing highlight. 

Bobby was concentrated on the call, he heard the ringback tone, Ella wasn't answering her phone. Dominated by a profound feeling, fatigue engraved on Bobby's face. 

Ella didn't want to check her phone fearing it was her father the one making the call, but Jives convinced her to check it because it was getting late and it might have just been her uncle calling, which was the case. She called him after reading the missing call notification. 

"I just need to finish this quest and I'll be there in a minute!" She said through the phone, in a quite cheerful tone... she was winning after all. 

A little smile came into Bobby's face, glad to listen to such a lighthearted tone coming from his little niece, "Okay pumpkin!" He giggled. 

He put his phone back in his pocket and leaned on the wall, beside the intercom. He rubbed his hands to create some warmth, they were getting rather cold. 

"I guess she's having fun!" Tobby said, head tilted towards the starry sky. The moonlight combined with the street lights streamed down upon his receptive and friendly face.  

Bobby finally caught up with the situation he was in, in that moment.  

"Are you sure you don't want to wait for her inside?" Tobby repeated his offer. He gave him a beautiful smile, and for Bobby it was as if for a split second everything stopped and that smile pierced through all the bad things in his life and made everything well again, but it didn't. 

"It's fine like this. The sky is pretty..." His soft lips formed a smile that didn't quite reach the expression in his eyes. His eyes were lit with sadness, and the forced expression on his mouth made Tobby's heart feel heavy. For a few moments he stared at him, almost sure his expression mirrored his.  

"Bad day?" 

Bobby sighed, "Bad day." 

"Wanna talk 'bout it?" Tobby put his hands in his pockets, leaning on the door's frame.  

"Not really... I just want to go home, spend some time with Ella, watch a movie or somethin', maybe Flobs will join too..." 

"Flobs?" 

"Roommate" Bobby smirked, "friend." 

"Huh, that reminds me, I don't really know your name..." Tobby laughed. 

"Bobby."  

"Nice to meet ya Bobby" Tobby pulled his hand out of his pocket, "Tobby Tendersson." 

Bobby reached. 

It was a tight grip. 

"I still haven't congratulated you on your store's success, Bobby." 

"Ah! Oh, well... Thanks, Tobby, we're just starting though..." 

"And you're doing it magnificently!" 

Hearing such thing would have made him so happy, normally... But this time, all he could think was that if there was something good going on with his life, it was all going to be gone in a matter of time. That's how it always was with Rottenella's father.    
He let himself go in dreams and ideas even if he warned himself about it, about how it would return in due course. Now he could barely look without welling up,  the situation made it look like progress knew no sentiment and attachment felt a weakness he couldn't afford... 

Rottenella and Jives had gone down and Jives opened the door for her. 

"Ah, yo Tobby... Sir."  

They both turned. 

Rottenella let a smile escape as she said goodbye to her new friend, but it disappeared as soon as her gaze fell on her uncle. The remorse sat on her chest  and inside her brain as if it struck her like a lightning. She didn't want to think she had had a nice time because thinking about that would make her feel awful, looking at her uncle's face... The worries won't let him be, not even when being side to side with his probable crush, and it's her fault, it's all her fault, she repeats to herself.  

When the guilt came to her, she felt it as if she walked down an old familiar path. One path that she refused to walk ,one path that she couldn't bare. When Bobby looked her way, she could see he was one blow away from breaking. She stepped ahead swiftly. 

She ran to her uncle and just gripped him as hard as she was able to, letting him know that things will be okay. A thought arose in her mind in the act.  

« _Y_ _ou_ _just need_ _to_ _keep_ _your_ _eyes on the horizon and_ _your mind set up_ _to creating a positive future; because really, isn't that what everyone needs?_ » 

Her bottom lip quivered, and her eyes turned glacier blue under the sheen of water, constant, yet she didn't allow the tears to flow. 

"I didn't think you'd have such a bad time that you'd run to me like that!" He hugged her back. 

Bobby was much more sentimental but he preferred to make his little doll-like little girl laugh. 

"Did you say thanks to your friend?" He felt her nod when he asked the question, "then let's head home pumpkin" He swirled her around with ease. 

Tobby stared as Bobby waved goodbye to him and Jives, and his first thought, or at least what felt like his first thought ever, slowly appearing in his brain, was that the last time he stood there, he had been staring up at the beautiful sky and dreaming of stars and in that moment he found them all hidden in one person.   

Maybe they could talk someday. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to thank my friends' support, especially afaebae, and also to credit a very nice individual, morgan-animations, because I used their headcanon names for Bobby, Tobby and Flobby! (with their permission, of course!) and Lowkey's ringtone idea!


	8. Chapter 8

Robbie had already eaten what was left of the cake with his usual cup of coffee, it had been hours since that moment... Eleven o'clock morphed into twelve and then into one. He was awake a long time in the dark, thinking and not thinking, in that unbearing state which is not sleep, nor yet full wakefulness. He'd had wonderful amounts of sleep lately, it was a matter of time for his insomnia to strike back, the past days were something of a miracle.

He frowned.

The outside teased him with its silence; everyone and everything had already fallen asleep, except for maybe the owl that now decided to live in his neighbor's yard. Time was marked by the numbers changing on the dim screen of his phone. 

He looked at it, paying no attention to the hour itself but to the notification it showed. He grabbed it. It was the message he had rejected to read earlier that day. 

He answered back, not really caring about the late hour.

It was long ago that the last of the light of day had left his apartment and he could only hope that until the daylight came back he was not going to be aware of every second of every minute that passed. His mind is constantly bringing back the worries of the day, the worries of tomorrow, the worries of any given time. He tossed and turned but just couldn't find the right position to be in. 

His phone buzzed. 

Ah, he'd have to turn up the volume of the notifications for tomorrow, a busy day. 

Wait a minute, his phone had made a buzz. Why?

A new message?

_«_ _What are you doing_ _awake?_ _»_ Robbie wrote and sent the message. An instant answer came back.   
_«_ _I could ask the same thing but I know you're a night owl_ _»_

_«_ _That's_ _your_ _answer?_ _»_

_«_ _I'm a light sleeper, any sound can wake me up_ _»_

_«_ _So_ _I woke you up_ _»_

_«_ _Yeah, no worries though._

_You_ _good?_ _»_

_«_ _What do you mean_

_?_ _»_

_«_ _You can't sleep_ _»_

_«_ _I can never sleep_ _»_

_«_ _Need company?_

_Or something_

_?_ _»_

Robbie didn't answer right away, he was baffled and angry? Angry wasn't the right emotion but it was the closest there was.

_«_ _No._ _»_

_«_ _Okay_ _»_

A lingering haze of sleep sat somewhere at the back of his mind but was too far away to reach. Trying to make himself fall asleep, he took as many deep breaths as he could, but most just got caught in his throat. At that moment, he knew it was going to be a long night.

Sportacus was still online. Robbie huffed.

_«_ _You?_ _»_ He sent.

_«_ _I could talk_ _»_

_«_ _I don't really feel like staring at the screen_

_Can you send_ _audios?_ _»_

_«_ _Sure_

_How?_ _»_

_«_ _You press the mic button_ _»_

A few attempts were made.

_«_ _You press the mic button_ _and you hold it_ _»_  Robbie wrote, almost feeling the struggle Sportacus was having at that moment.

After a solid minute of receiving audios  that lasted less than 3 seconds Robbie got the decisive message.

_«_ _I can't_ _»_

_«_ _Unbelievable_ _»_

_«_ _Sorry_ _»_

_«_ _Fine_

_Do you know how to answer calls at_ _least?_ _»_

_«_ _Yes..._ _»_

_«_ _I'll_ _call  you_ _»_

And so he did.

“Robbie?”

 Like echoes across a canyon, the familiar voice reverberated through the line. “Well done, you're not completely hopeless.”

 “It’s me.”

Robbie squinted his eyes. "Yes I know it's you, Sportadumb..."

"Okay..."

An awkward silence in the line, from both sides.

 "What do you want to talk about?" Robbie asked, and that's what ended up with them talking for about an hour.

Sportacus would choose a topic and ask questions about it, depending on Robbie's answer, the conversation would flow.

"Favorite flower?" Sportacus asked.

"Three zeros, the best for..." Robbie took a step back on the question, "Oh, you meant flower, not flour!"

"What?"

"It's your accent."

"Why would I mean flour?" Sportacus let out a chuckle.

Robbie closed his eyes for a moment and rubbed the bridge of his nose before talking, "I don't know, it's all I've been talking about lately..."

Silence on the other side of the line   
"The big event is just a few days away..." Robbie sighed and opened his eyes, "Got a mail from the contest people, Jerry said I can invite people."

 "I heard Chef Pablo Fantástico will be there!" Sportacus said, "That sounds exciting!"

"You like him?"

"He makes healthy recipes" Sportacus stated, leaving a moment of thought, "So, I guess I do!"

"If you want to…" Robbie rolled his eyes, "...you can come."

"Really?"

"Yeah, just don't make me regret inviting you."

"You know I won't" Sportacus smiled, "what about the kids? They were the ones that came up with the idea!"

"I wanted to invite them but …They will get bored, it's a fancy business thing..."

"They will show many things, maybe they want to meet chef Pablo or some other famous people that are going to be there!"

"Maybe… You ask them"

"Why me? Is it that you don’t want them to know that you have them in consideration?"

"Ahghh Flobby left pollen in the apartment and I'm dying with the allergies!"

"Robbie, you are changing the subject..."

"You know, I think I am falling asleep now." Robbie yawned, whether it was a real yawn or not, that cannot be said.

"Robbie..."

"Goodnight Sportaflop." 

Sportacus sighed, but he thought that if Robbie was truly sleepy, then it was a good thing to hear, just for this time. 

"Goodnight Robbie. See ya tomorrow?"

"Yeah, tomorrow."

The conversation was over. Robbie did fall asleep after that, so did Sportacus.

The sun was high in the sky, yet her mind was clouded grey. Yesterday had been fun, but today her mood came between being low and lower. She had no energy or motivation so she sat in the entry of the building wearing her usual pink outfit, legs outstretched on the warm and sun-shone midday ground. Her eyes shifted to the side again and became glazed with a glassy layer of tears.

"Stephanie!" A familiar voice called her name, "what are you doing here?"

"Ah, hi Sportacus!" She looked up at him, "Mom's busy and dad's at the teacher's reunion thing... I thought you'd be there too!"

"PE teachers aren't duty-bound to stay there all day..." He walked towards her, "but, what's wrong?"

"I just wanted to be outside..." She sniffed, "Pixel isn't home, I called Stingy and he still has classes anyways... Ziggy can't come by himself, and Trixie will be here when she's done with work..."

"Work?" Sportacus wondered.

"Yeah, she works with her dad..." Stephanie answered.

"Is that why you're so sad?"

"Well... The kids at school made fun of me, and... they broke my diary..."

"Why!?" Sportacus was outraged at those news.

She bit her lip tightly. "They say I'm far too grown up to have a diary, and that it's stupid..." Her lower lip quivered as words slowly made their way out of her mouth, "I guess it's nice not having to see them today!" She sighed. Her sigh was of a softly decreasing; it was as if a tension had lifted yet left her with a melancholic feeling instead of relief.

"Stephanie... That is horrible!"

"Trixie says I gotta defend myself... with fists."

"Violence is never the best option, it just brings worse things..."

"I wish I could be more like Trixie, she's tough!" Stephanie said and thought for a while.

Sportacus sat beside her.

"Did you know she stole a book?" She said after a moment, "She used to borrow them from a charity shop... but they kicked her out for bad behavior, she said she didn't do anything..."

"Stealing is wrong..."

"She says that what is she supposed to do if she doesn't have the money to pay for it... Her parents bought her a book once and a kid stole it from her. She got it buck by force and in the struggle, it broke a bit." 

She rubbed her eyes, "She only reads it on her mom's birthday... She left... but she doesn't blame her, she wishes she'd taken her with her... Thinking about her makes me stronger."

She smiled a bit, "I'm waiting for her birthday to come so I can give her a book." 

Sportacus listened to her with attention.

"I really want to do that for her." Stephanie concluded.

"You don't need to wait for a special occasion to come, you can make any occasion special that way..."  He soflty ruffled her hair.

"Do you give your friends random gifts?"

He chuckled, "I don't have many friends to be honest..." He thought for a second, "I did do that sometimes with the friends I had when I was younger!"

"What about Robbie?"

"Robbie is different... I tried giving him banana bread and he said he couldn't eat bananas? You know how he is!" He laughed, "with adults it's different though... He might get the wrong idea and I don't want to scare him away when It's been so hard getting this close..."

"Like my Uncle and Mrs. Busybody! He always buys her gifts and he likes her a lot!" She said.

"I've noticed that!"

"Bessie is just grasping the idea. She's been nicer to him lately..."

"He must be really happy about that!"

"Oh, he is!" She smiled, "He couldn't stop talking about the text she sent him, he thinks out loud a lot, I guess that's his way of remembering things..."

"I make lists." Sportacus commented.

"Mom does that too. I write everything in detail in... my diary..." Her voice turned soft, looking at her bag with sorrow.

He looked at her, it was heartbreaking seeing her so sad!

"We could try to fix it, or we could buy a new one... or make a new one!" He suggested, "if you want to!"

She broke into a grin and replied. After a minute she bounced up and the melancholy of the morning was now quite forgotten.

The thing was that Sportacus didn't have a pink thread to go with her diary, so he thought about paying a visit to Robbie, he was surely home! 

Robbie was indeed at home, and he was fully equipped! He had thread of any color you could imagine! He had any kind of beautiful accessories and even lots of fabrics!

He didn't ask to many questions about the current state of the diary, he swiftly grabbed a needle and started sewing. 

For being someone who declares himself as a slow lazy person, he moved really fast. He mended up the diary in no time. 

Stephanie was marveled to see him in action. "My mom would say you are the perfect husband!"

Robbie laughed, "I wouldn't fancy your mom, pink girl." He looked at the diary for a moment. "Want to add something to it?"

"Can I!?" She asked enthusiastically.

"Well, it's your diary..." Robbie said, passing her the accessories box.

She looked for the shiniest, pinkest thing on the box and placed it carefully on her diary. 

Her eyes showed a glowing happiness. She grabbed a pen from her bag and opened her diary and started writing. She looked at Robbie and chuckled, then, she continued writing.

"Now you made me curious, what are you writing there?" Robbie asked.

"That you are a big softie at heart!" She laughed.

"Ah, well..." Robbie's face was difficult to describe, he basically froze for a minute. That was a sweet thing to say about him. "I..."

He didn't quite know what to say, "Thank you?"

Before they left Robbie told them to wait, he had something for them. He went inside and looked for something while they waited outside the door.

He gave them six white envelopes, carefully decorated with a golden flowers pattern.

"Maybe I am a big softie..." He started, "Invitations to the big event..." He explained.

Sportacus smiled at him with overflowing joy, and Stephanie gave him a big hug as a thank you.

"I'll make sure the others get their invitations!" She said happily.

She carefully put them on her bag.

"Ah, it's really formal, by the way..." Robbie said, "dress code is black tie for most people. Some even got white tie."

Sportacus thought about that for a minute. "Okay." His voice had a slight tone of hesitation.

"I'll be going to Frank Alonso's in a couple of hours, you might want to come too." Robbie said before closing the door.

"Robbie!" Stephanie shouted through the door, "Are you going to the Frank Alonso shop that is on the mall?" 

"No, that one doesn't have the tailor!" Robbie answered back.

"Can we come with you?" Stephanie asked.

"Only if you behave and let me take a nap now!" Robbie said.

"Deal!" She said.

Trixie went to Ziggy's house on her way to the building and brought him along, Pixel was the next to arrive, and Stingy got there last. When Stephanie told them the news the one who got more excited was Stingy.

"Oh, the lights! The glamour!" He daydreamed about the moment he would get to go to a fancy event like that, just like his parents. He felt important.

"Shhh Stingy, we need to be quiet! If Robbie wakes up because of us he won't take us shopping!" Stephanie said quietly.

"He's gonna take us shopping!?" Trixie said loudly.

"Shhhhhh!" They said.

"What is it with the old man that he's being so nice?" Trixie said, now more quietly.

"I don't know, he's been nice all day!" Stephanie said smiling.

 "That's something you don't see every day!" Pixel commented.

"Are we sure this is the real Robbie?" Ziggy asked.

The hours passed quickly for the kids, who were playing and having fun, trying to be as quiet as they could.

Finally, it was time to go!

They all hopped off the bus, taking a casual stroll along the sidewalk, enjoying the glamorous surroundings leading up to the grand high street.Even in a not so big town like the one where they were in, there were dozens of shops to cater for the population. They sold shoes, sports goods, clothes, computers, video and audio equipment, furniture, musical instruments, cameras and films, food, drinks and many other things. Everything the kids could imagine, they would find in this long high street since it was frequented by many people. Pixel and Stingy had been there before, but the rest of the kids and Sportacus didn't know about this place.

"Kinda big for you to lose track of this place, don't you think?"

"I guess you go outside even more than I do."  Sportacus said , and that sure irritated Robbie.

"Anyways, Sportacus will be in charge of you, I take no responsability of your actions." Robbie took a step and looked back at them, "We'll go to Frank Alonso's first and then you can do whatever you want... I'll go have a coffee or something while you do whatever it is you do."

They all followed Robbie.

There were armed guards in uniform near a goldsmith shop that Stingy noticed. The little boy went to check the items they had.

"Stingy, don't get away from the group!" Sportacus called for him but he was already entering the shop. The guards looked at him funnily, judging by the bored look on their faces, the shops might just as well have no guards at all. They found it funny to see a boy as sharply dressed as Stingy, barging in like he owns the place.

"Ah, Robbie, wait a minute! Stingy entered a shop..." Sportacus went to look for the bowtie boy.

 Robbie stopped, rolling his eyes at the situation, already lamenting the idea of letting them come along.

"Woah, look at that! They re-opened Forty-Two Street!" Pixel said pointing at a computer shop. "They even added the music department there!" 

The shop blasted out the latest hits through two giant loudspeakers. A few meters away, behind the receptionist’s counter, a pretty girl spoke into a microphone. Hundreds of different stores. Teenagers walking around texting on their phones. Overpriced T-shirts. People waiting in line.

"Can I go there after?" Pixel asks, when he saw Sportacus return with his friend.

"Sure! After!" Sportacus smiled.

They walked past a library that Stephanie noticed, that was a good opportunity as any! She planned to go there after they visited the shop Robbie wanted to go to.

They got to the right place, the name of the store standing out from the glass windows displaying sharp suits. Looking at that display brought a strange feeling delight and satisfaction to the people outside. The moment they entered the shop it was like walking to a different world from the street outside. The air was distinctly cooler, the sound changed completely, from the chatter and noise to calm music and comfortable quiet. The air conditioner was very effective. 

Frank Alonso was more than a brand... custom-made clothes, tailoring , the entire culture of which the best garments that money could buy and the human hand could make were the tangible product there. The brand grew faster than any other, gaining recognition from the highest people around. Frank Alonso played with the modern and the traditional in a way no other could. The shop and brand reflected all of this.

"Mister Rotten! Long time no see!" The woman who stood behind one of the first counter walked towards them, only paying attention to Robbie. She was dressed smartly, her hair was neat and slick apart from the stray strand of hair that had escaped. "You confirmed your appointment with Tony?"

"Yes Miranda, he said I'd have to try it one last time." 

"Wonderful." She looked at the others, "I see that you brought friends, are they here to-?"

"Ah, yes. If you would be so kind to call Tony? I'm sure he'll find the perfect suit for my friend. Ready to wear, please."

Everyone stared at how everything developed in front of their eyes. 

"Children? I f you would be so kind to follow me to the sitting room?" Her perfume was rich. Her necklace hung down the inside of her blouse, the gold chain shone in the light. They followed her while Sportacus was snatched away by the man they assumed was Tony.

The kids were taken to an airy space, where customers would usually get first class treatment from cocktails served to a giant chesterfield sofa to relax on. 

Tony talked as he selected everything for Sportacus to wear. "Mr. Rotten says that the code given is black tie. Black tie is one step down from white tie..." 

He guided the confused man to a fitting room.

"...Still formal, but no outdated headwear." He hung the things he carefully selcted. "Think a classic black tux, including jacket, trousers with a satin stripe down the side, a cummerbund, and a bow tie." He said, pointing each out. "We'll see the shoes later."

After Sportacus tried the first suit, he looked incredible, but not enough for Tony.

“The average suit requires two fittings but in your case we're trying the ready-to-wear's. Ah, yes... Midnight blue merino, I think this will be just perfect."

As Sportacus tried the suit Tony explained, "The midnight blue has a depth of color that makes it look blacker than black at night. Always beautiful, always elegant, and a traditional choice too." 

The kids looked around the place, discussing what would they wear to the party.

Robbie was almost done with his last fitting. He would have the tuxedo delivered to his house in no time.

"Here, the matching satin shawl collar adds finesse, complemented by satin-covered buttons and pocket jets. I assume your predilect color is blue?" Tony asked.

"Uh, yes." 

"Wonderful, if you just wait here..." After a moment he came back and continued. "The trousers are kept simple with flat fronts, side adjusters, satin braid and concealed phone pocket holder and right hip pocket. The cloth is midnight-blue merino wool, a hundred percent wool."

The suit was a tad too long for Sportacus, but there was no way they were going to let that go. The second Robbie saw him he decided that he wasn't going to let Sportacus wear something that wasn't that suit. They argued a bit, because Sportacus didn't want Robbie to pay for the suit. Robbie bought it anyways. If they couldn't tailor Sportacus, he was going to do it.

The kids didn't get to see him in that moment, but at least they were entertained by the virtual mini-golf they had on the side. Trixie was the best at it.

They had a wonderful time after they left Frank Alonso's.

Pixel went to the computer shop, he had a blast. He commented about anything and everything on that store, probably impressed some people. He didn't buy anything though, everything was more expensive there.

Next, they went to the goldsmith shop and Ziggy and Trixie recognized a police officer that had taken the place of one of the guards from before. Officer Obstuse was how they called him, they talked for a little. And Stingy did buy a gold pocket watch when no one was looking.

Ziggy fell in love with caramel popcorn, and bought a new lollipop for later. He was really happy.

Trixie and Stephanie went to the library and Stephanie bought Trixie a book she liked, words wouldn't be able to describe how Trixie felt. Sportacus was right, it made any occasion  _special_.

Pixel wrote the name of some books on his phone for later, he wasn't going to buy them then.

Stingy selected a few interesting books, but ended up buying more than the selected ones.

Ziggy got himself a comic book.

They went to the arcade later on. The air was filled with the sound of video games in progress.

Sportacus went to a sportswear shop that also had a bunch of sports equipment, he found his spot there quite easily.

Robbie sat at a café and had a nice cup of coffee with a piece of cake.

Shopping and just strolling around such a crowded place was a nice distraction for everyone. Stingy's stressful day of school didn't seem as stressful. Stephanie's bad time didn't go through her mind at all. Trixie was absolutely happy about her gift. Ziggy had no worries at all. Pixel had a wonderful time.

Apart from the dwindling size of the wallet, there were no problems while shopping. Everyone had a motive there; whether it was to buy, to sell, to have a good time, to distract themselves, or any other reason... everyone had a purpose being there. Another great thing about shopping is that you are the one in control of everything, you are the one that decides if you want to buy or not, if you can or not. There is no pressure in making that choice.

The kids would have to see what to wear, with their families, but after watching so many shops and so many people, they had their own ideas.

Before they got into the bus, Robbie bought an ice cream for everyone, except for Sportacus, who bought himself an orange at much of Robbie's dismay.

When they got to the building, the kids thanked them once again and went their own way to play for a while. Robbie did his best at tailoring Sportacus and then he left to work on the preparations for the event.

A rather unusual day if you asked any of them.


	9. Chapter 9

You could hear the clacking sound of shoes walking the white laminate flooring. The light coming from the windows made the desk cast a dark shadow. It was a sunny morning that made the chill from the past days go away slowly. 

The life of an editor in chief wasn't the most peaceful life and Bessie knew that by hand, but she liked it that way, though sometimes it would get her on her nerves. She had started as an intern, surprisingly as it was, since not many interns get to be an editor in chief in the time she did.

Another thing that made Bessie be different from other editors in chief was the special part of her job which was writing a weekly column for the magazine, since usually an executive editor doesn't write much. Her primary job was to make sure that everything was set and right to go out to the public, and that the goals and tone of the whole magazine were communicated to everybody who worked there. Of course, her biggest trait was how good she was in the matter of communication. The job fit her like a glove, having to work with so many people at once, planning editorial calendars, creating the brand, reading and re-reading, she especially loved the fact that she got to be involved on the big social and business events, representing the magazine. When an event that would matter to the readers happened, it was her duty to attend to it, and that made her absolutely delighted. 

Except for this time...

This time everything felt chaotic. Probably because the date of the party had been moved almost a week sooner.

Bessie stared at her desk in horror. It was an absolute mess, papers of all colors scattered all around. Under them, her office telephone. Her e-mail open on her computer and on her phone, letting her know of the day's meetings and assignments.

 Her personal assistant had lost her dry-cleaning receipt, which she needed to get her dress back for tomorrow.

 The poor girl had been juggling with several projects with different deadlines all at once, and she assured her that she left the paper on Bessie's desk, which now was a mess because Bessie hadn't found it on her first search. But she didn't have time to look for it, she also had to be on top of her responsibilities. Seven articles to review, photographs to check out, layouts and designs that needed her approval, a short videocall meeting with the publisher at 3...

She'd have Milford take care of it. Poor Milford, head over heels for Bessie, he'd always do her bidding.   
But Bessie was not the only one getting ready for the next day!

   
"You'll have to be here earlier..." John said, he was signing some papers, directing the people who took care of moving the tables and seats. He spoke again, before Robbie could answer "...I don't like it either, you bother me as much as I bother you."

Robbie had had John breathing on his neck during the last few days and he was almost ready to punch him on his perfect teeth. He sighed, hands in his pockets. 

He watched every movement everyone made and he was already getting tired just by watching.

John directed everyone with perfect care, but he looked tired too. "No, I said on the corner. Do you want the boss to get mad, whatever-your-name-is?"    
"Bert, sir." The man he was speaking to answered.   
John made a movement with his hand indicating he didn't care. "You must've heard how he is with details." He smiled. "Well, he's worse. Now get on with it."

Robbie pouted, rolling his eyes. "Can I go now?"   
John ignored him.    
Robbie waited for a minute. "Well, I'll take that as a yes." He said as he took a few steps towards the exit.   
"You could've left hours ago." John laughed.   
Robbie turned around, almost outraged, mostly offended. "So you kept me here-?" At that moment, comprehension was beyond him. "Didn't you just say I bothered you!?"

"Yes, but I enjoy seeing you suffer. Very much so." Arrogance was John Farabella's worst vice.

"Charming as ever." Robbie said.   
"Jerry needs a word with you before you go." John said, walking away.   
"Where is he?"   
"As you can see I have more important things to do than to know where he might be..." John sighed "He's over there, at the decorations sector..."   
"Mhm" Robbie walked over to where the young man was standing. 

Jerry's shoulders were tensed, even though he had done a perfect job and everything seemed under control, he would always worry.

"All hands-on deck" Robbie commented.   
Jerry turned to the familiar voice. "Ah" he smiled, "Always expect the unexpected, Mr. Rotten."   
 _Jer_ _r_ _y's_ _been nice, with a bit more of confidence he'll become a better boss than John._    
That's what Robbie thought, and he was probably right.

_"_ I'm sorry for taking your time from you, I forgot to tell you that there won't be a limousine service available for you, sadly..." His voice became really quiet, "you know how John is sometimes... He won't spend more money, and things were already arranged before you got your seat at the table..."   
"Oh never mind that, it won't kill me." Robbie said, "Kid, I'm tougher than I look."    
"Still, sorry for the inconvenience. And there's also another thing, since we had to bring another table for you and your plus ones, uh... We had to modify other people's seats too." Jerry would lend a hand to anyone who needed it, he was walking here and there, Robbie lazily following, "So you might have to share the table with someone else, Karen is on it."

The Doormey Theater seated over 2400 audience members, and around 1500 VIP guests had to be provided with the best service possible. Everyone was doing their best to accomplish that.

"You don't mind, do you?" Jerry asked, a hint of concern in his voice.

Robbie looked at him and Jerry's face dropped, he seemed to dislike the idea. A second later he laughed. "Gotcha."

"Oh" Jerry exclaimed with relief, he smiled, "you really got me there for a minute!"   
"I guess drama school was worth it." 

Robbie loved anything that had to do with acting, he especially loved theatre, every aspect of it, and everyone who worked to make it work. Not only the actors but writers, scenery and stagecraft people, lighting designers, costume designers, sound designers, stage managers, etc. Everyone put their grain of sand. He'd met a lot of people who worked or at least experienced being part of a play and enjoyed it, Jerry reminded him of those people. 

"Well, I think that was it." A few arguments could be heard from behind the stage, Jerry shrugged, "Ah, sorry Mr. Rotten... I gotta-"    
And so, Jerry left to continue with his multiple tasks, and Robbie left to get back to the apartment building. 

Stephanie's parents couldn't afford the fanciest of dresses but she'd make it work just fine, she had learnt to appreciate what she had and to be content with that, she didn't need the most expensive thing in the store to be happy.  She was sitting in her bed looking at the dress with fondness, it meant a lot to her that her parents had bought it for her, she'd made sure to let them know how thankful she was to them every ten minutes. Her parents were happy to see her happy, and she couldn't wait for tomorrow to come.    
She remembered a beautiful brooch that Robbie had, she didn't want to bother him but she thought her outfit wouldn't be complete without it. Dinner was almost ready, they were eating early so that Stephanie had time to get things ready for the day to come.

Trixie didn't know what to wear. A dress? Her dad would probably love to see her wearing one, she hadn't worn a dress since she was a kid. A suit? She always felt more comfortable with a suit on, instead of a dress, she was almost certain that her dad wouldn't mind it that much. The dress code said black tie, you can't wear a tie with a dress, can you? Suit it was! Her only suit was the one she usually wore during New Year's Eve, when the whole family got together, including her mom and her step brothers. She saw them less with the pass of time. The suit was getting smaller for her though... It was a bit annoying. She tried it on and off, doing her best attempt to hem it. Maybe she could borrow one from her dumb step-brothers, or maybe she'd ask one of her friends if that didn't work out. She'd have to ask Stingy how to do a bowtie, she thought, and sighed at the thought.

Stingy was deciding what to wear, he had lots of options. Would he wear a classic? 

Stingy's closet was impeccable, absolutely organized, clean and neat. Open closets were made to bring order but this one was immaculate in all ways. He'd go for layers, first the shirt... A light color, he wouldn't usually go for a white shirt, but there were rules to be followed, for this attire he'd go for a white winged tip collared shirt, that was settled from the start, they go well with bowties. Shirt was done, now what? 

Dinner jackets, all hung, in order of color, ascending. It was time to bring out the complementary shawl lapeled jacket, the darkest in line, and matching black trousers.   
He almost forgot, black tie requires the waist to be unseen. He loved waistcoats almost as much as he loved bowties, so he tried to play it risky on that matter. He was used to light colors, but he knew how to make this work. Shoes. Black leather shoes, properly polished. He maintained all of his shoes in perfect conditions. And lastly bowties, he'd spend a while choosing which one to wear. Let's not even talk about when it came to watches.

Pixel's parents were more excited than he was when he tried on the suit, it was a bit big for him so a few adjustments were to be made. Since he wasn't allowed to take his visor to the party, he'd try out his work in progress, which was basically an augmented reality device, OHMD type, trying to follow the ubiquitous computing concept, which he created over his father's old glasses. Awesome glasses, a nice suit? 

He convinced himself he was one of Kingsman's agents. That sounded like fun. He could be like Merlin.

He was all set and done for tomorrow and his mother had asked him for Chef Pablo's autograph if it was possible. That would be his secret mission.

Ziggy's suit was a bit long for him but he looked absolutely adorable and he thought of himself as a James Bond of some sort. His mother was so happy she bought him a big lollipop, which made Ziggy happy! His father would pinch his cheek as usual, out of love, and to see if he had any cavities Ziggy hadn't told them about. They would stop by the barbershop to get Ziggy a nice haircut and maybe later go for an ice-cream. They had made some time to buy the outfit and spend some time with their kid, they were usually really busy, but they always made sure to be there for Ziggy.

 People with great influence were getting to the picturesque town and everyone was hearing about it.

The kids had organized to meet at the building, they'd have a sleepover at Milford's flat, with his approval of course! He loved how much the kids had grown closer to one another and had formed a great group with such an apparent strong bond. It was great to see them having fun playing games, and using their imagination, especially because kids those days were immersed in their own worlds and didn't share as many moments as they used to, in other times. It was even more special because they met in an apartment building and they had not only grown closer to each other but made everyone closer. Even Mr. Rotten was nicer than usual, and that only made things better for Milford as the head of the building's committee.

Milford received Bessie's message and immediately started to show his anxious nature. Stephanie was going to call him when she'd leave to the apartment, and she hadn't called yet, which gave him time to go for Bessie's dress. He couldn't say no to Bessie but he certainly couldn't be away when Stephanie would get there. Luckily for him, just as if she knew, Stephanie called to tell him she'd take longer than expected to go there, and that if he had things to do he would be able to do them, she had a key after all.

So he went to solve Bessie's problems the best way he could. 

   
Stephanie got there a while later, she rushed up the stairs with her usual upbeat spirit. The first thing she saw was a package of cookies on the kitchen counter that Milford had bought. She walked to them. Milford didn't know at what time he would be back to the apartment so he left a little note that said 'Don't eat too many before going to bed'.    
Stephanie smiled, that was sweet of him. She thought that either Stingy or Ziggy would eat way too many cookies, given their characteristic selves, and let out a little chuckle. She turned on the radio and looked for one of her favorite stations, she lowered the volume so she wouldn't bother the neighbors, mostly thinking about how displeased Robbie would feel if he heard music, at that hour, coming from the apartment next to his. 

_'..._ _Cuz_ _e_ _veryday's_ _like talking in yo_ _ur_ _sleep!_

_Love is like a_ _silhouette_ _in dreams!_

_Open up your heart!_

_Open up your heart and let me pull you out of_ _here!..._ _'_

She pranced around the room to the cheery tune coming from the speakers, leaving her bag on the visit's room and setting everything up for her friends, though mostly was already taken care of. 

She took the stairs to the sixth floor and rang the bell of Stingy's apartment, when she got no answer she proceeded to knock on the big door. A few seconds after that, the door opened, and the small well-dressed boy was ready as could be, his bag on his back and Piggy under his arm. He had decided to leave his clothes in the apartment, he didn't want them to get ruined or anything.

"Here I am" the boy said, as he fixed his bowtie.

"Hi Stingy!" Stephanie greeted. "We're gonna go look for Pixel now. Stairs or elevator?"

He thought for a second, "Elevator" he spoke finally.

They went to look for Pixel, who sent a message to Trixie and Ziggy. They'd get there in a matter of minutes. Meanwhile, Stingy had claimed half the things in Milford's apartment, as much as he could see. Stephanie and Pixel tried to bargain with him.   
Ziggy and Trixie arrived a while after they managed to calm Stingy down about owning everything around them.    
They all got on their pajamas and laid down even though it was still early. Stingy managed to score the sofa as a sleeping spot.    
"So what are you gonna wear for tomorrow?" Stephanie asked eagerly.

"A tux, and my Astute Bifocals 6000." Pixel said, pulling the glasses out of his bag.   
"Will you let us look at them up close?" Trixie asked.

"Only if you're careful and don't break them like the last time, Trixie" Pixel said.

"Can't make promises that are beyond my control, futuristic geek" Trixie said while making a funny face to him.    
He rolled his eyes at her but passed the glasses to her anyways.

Trixie put them on and spoke "Don't you have an extra pair of these? They'd go swell with my tux."

"Trixie, you're wearing a tux as well?" Stephanie asked, "Did you have to buy one?"

"Nah, borrowed it. Can't afford a new one right now, and the old one is too small for me." 

"I'm sure you'll look great!" Stephanie said adoringly.

Trixie smiled wholeheartedly "Thanks!"

"I'll be a spy!" Ziggy said jubilantly.

"Ziggy, if you're gonna be a spy then you shouldn't say it!" Stephanie laughed.

"Aw, you're right..." Ziggy said, "but I trust you with my secret!"

"What about you, Stingy?" Pixel asked, as he tried to get his glasses back from Trixie.

"Designer." Stingy said while getting Pixel's glasses from Trixie. 

"Hey!" Trixie blurted, mostly surprised.

"Mine now." Stingy put them on. "They're rather outstanding, Pixel. Good job on these!"

"Thank you!" Pixel beamed.

"Huh, can I see?" 

"Ziggy, no. Ziggy! It's  _my_ turn with the glasses!" Stingy said, " _My_ glasses!"

"You're supposed to share!" Ziggy said, while doing his best to snatch the glasses from the spoiled boy.

Stephanie went to look for the cookies, she came back and Ziggy was still trying to get the glasses from Stingy. 

"Who wants cookies?" She said loudly.

Stingy turned his attention to Stephanie and Ziggy took his chance to take them. 

"Guys, be careful with those!" Pixel told them. 

Trixie grabbed the bag of cookies from Stephanie and put it in the middle of the floor. 

"Uncle Milford said to not eat too many of them before bed." The pink haired girl said, as she sat down and opened the bag. 

They all grabbed some cookies, except for Stingy and Ziggy because they were too busy fighting for the glasses. 

They talked about their expectations for the next day for a while, about the people they would meet, about the food they would eat, the entertainment they'd enjoy, the music they would dance to...   
They talked until Milford came back home, they welcomed him happily.

"Did you get to the drycleaner in time?" Stephanie asked, stretching for a minute.

"Ah yes, thankfully I did." Milford spoke in his usual elated voice, "Miss Busybody bought takeout dinner." A wide smile appeared on his face, "she said I'm a keeper!" He said with absolute delight.

"You sure are, Uncle Milford!" Stephanie grinned at him, "Well, I'm glad everything turned out alright!"

"Oh yes..." He went on complementing Bessie's choice of food and most of the kids were no longer paying attention to what he had to say.

Stingy and Ziggy kept stealing cookies from each other. Trixie took them from both. 

Milford went to bed not long after, he said goodnight and turned off the lights.

A while later most of them were getting a little drowsy, probably from so much moving around during the day, getting ready for the party.

Pixel was browsing the internet on his phone, Trixie was already falling asleep, Stephanie was listening to the radio and lip syncing the songs that came on, Stingy was getting his things in order before trying to sleep, and Ziggy kept turning around in his sleeping bag.

When everything got silent, Ziggy spoke up. 

"I can't sleep, I'm too excited for tomorrow!"

All of them opened their eyes at him, except for Trixie who was deeply asleep.

"Count sheep..." Pixel said, yawning, "that might help."

"Hold on a second" Stingy said, "The sheep are mine!" 

"Stingy, please..." Stephanie and Pixel sighed.

"Last time, you said to count how many sheep-" The greedy boy started but got caught off by Pixel's voice.

"Those were other sheep."

Stingy gasped, "Even so... why would they go with Ziggy when they could come with _me_? Ziggy of all people!"

Pixel closed his eyes in resignation "Okay, maybe Ziggy is just keeping an eye on  _your_ sheep."

"I am capable of keeping an eye on  _my_  possessions, thank you very much!" Stingy said, a bit resentful towards the last sentence.

"Then do it, count sheep..." Pixel yawned once more, "make sure they're all there..."

And that was how everyone finally was able to fell asleep.


	10. Chapter 10

The next morning the first one to wake up was Stingy. He woke up from a terrible nightmare in which his sheep escaped to Ziggy's field; luckily it was just a dream. 

The little boy looked around and saw that everyone was still asleep. The morning light and the sound of birds were the only ones that gave him company in that moment, and he was glad... They wouldn't have to see his terrible secret and they would never know. He got up from the sofa, trying to make no sound, and folded up his sheets. He left them folded on the side of the couch and started making his way to the bathroom, passing through his sleeping friends. 

With the skills of a ninja he grabbed his backpack from the floor and slid to the bathroom.

Once there, he set everything up. First things first, he brushed his teeth: "Twenty times time", he chimed after he finished. He smiled to the mirror and checked his teeth. White as the shirt he was going to wear for the party.

Satisfied with the result, he continued on to focus on the most important part; his hair.

 That was his biggest secret.

 His hair wasn't as perfect as everyone thought. It had to go through a long process almost every day to get to the way it looked usually. Sometimes he'd get lucky and it would stay like that for three days, but mostly it would go back to the way it really was, and really, it was a nice hair, even with all the product Stingy put on it, but it didn't have the Spoilero curve.  It was a ** _straight_** flop.

It took so much gel to get that thing to the way he would feel okay with. And so much time as well.

He didn't know how his hairdresser did it.

By the time he was done, Pixel was starting to wake up. Stingy heard a yawn coming from the living room, so he rushed to get his things out of the bathroom.

PIxel was sitting on his sleeping bag, hands covering his eyes. He let out another yawn and realized Stingy was standing there. 

"Mornin' Stinge" he said, still sleepy.

"Morning" Stingy replied, leaving his backpack on the floor. After a moment of silence, he spoke again, "Did you sleep well?" 

He didn't get an answer. 

"Did you sleep well?" He asked again, a bit louder.

The other boy was a little startled "What? Sorry, wasn't listening."

Stingy felt a little hurt. "Did you sleep well?" He repeated.

"Yeah, you?"

Stingy watched as Pixel grabbed his headphones and put them on. "Mhm, yeah..." He felt a shiver down his spine when he remembered the dream he had had.

Pixel connected the headphones to his phone. 

Stingy sat down next to Pixel.

"What are you listening to?" The groomed boy asked.

"I'm looking for some songs to make a playlist for Stephanie... ", he yawned, "At least these songs are good for waking you up"

"Huh"

"I already selected a few last night, and I'm thinking of giving them some kind of order." 

"Oh that sounds fun! I love ordering things! I can help with that" Stingy smiled, but a second later the smile vanished, "wait, why don't  _I_  get a playlist from you?"

Pixel chuckled, "Well, I can make one for you too later!"

Stingy smiled to the answer and got his phone out. "Send me the link so I can start hearing those songs, then we'll think of an order for them together."

"Nice!" Pixel exclaimed, "I was thinking of maybe making it into a mixtape. I think it's a nice touch... You know I'm actually a big fan of old technology as well?" He smiled. 

"Well, I also enjoy things from other times..." Stingy said softly, "I like to have my music in vinyl, the sound of a record player is different somehow, and it's a nice feeling to listen it that way..."

Pixel sent him the link, "I like my headphones better, sorry."  

"Headphones are nice too." Stingy said while grabbing his earphones.

"But I think I get what you mean when you say a nice feeling..." Pixel said, "It's kinda funny to like things that aren't even from the time grew up in, though my first cellphone was actually an old cellphone from the year I was born. It used to be my dad's but he kept it and gave it to me because he said it marked a memory, an era... It was like one of the first phones to have a 2 megapixel camera, I mean how crazy is that!? Every phone from our day has a camera and they have like 16 megapixels at the least! Fair to say some people made fun of me, but I really didn't mind, those people can't make a difference between CDMA and GSM." He laughed.

"Well, I'm glad I have you to answer that kind of questions." Stingy said opening the link the other boy sent him.

It was a mistake to do so since he had forgotten to plug the earphones on his phone.

Just Dance by HONNE blasted through his phone loud enough to wake the ones who were still asleep. Even Trixie, who was a heavy sleeper woke up, much to Stingy's concern. 

The moment she opened her eyes she shot the angriest glare at Stingy. 

Pixel bit his lips in apprehension.

Oh, she was furious! And Stingy was never gonna hear the last of it. 

Everyone was a bit taken aback at first, but Stephanie and Ziggy weren't really angry at waking up, even if it was so sudden. After it really hit him, Stingy stopped the music.

At breakfast time Trixie was still angry at Stingy, which was a mood in the air for everyone to feel, until the tension was interrupted by Ziggy’s angry stomach. Both Stingy's and Trixie’s attention went to the little blonde boy, who shrugged at their stare. The three of them were sitting at the kitchen’s island, Ziggy in the middle. 

Thankfully Milford showed up from the hall.

“Hi uncle Milford!” Stephanie greeted him with a smile.

“Stephanie! Kids!” Milford waved at them happily, “Good morning!”

“Hi, mister Meanswell!” The rest of them said.

“I see that you were up earlier than me! Do you need any help?” Milford asked.

Stephanie and Pixel were getting the breakfast ready. They were looking at some recipes online because they wanted to make a super breakfast for such an important day.

“No, thanks Uncle! I think we have it covered.” Stephanie said, “Oh, actually… We do need something. These fritters are broccoli fritters and we don’t have any. Could you go for some while we make the smoothies?”

“Sure! I'll check the weather first.” Milford said.

“Can I go with you, mister Meanswell?” Ziggy asked.

“Of course, Ziggy!” Milford said, while he sent a good morning message to Bessie. After that he checked the weather. “I think we're good to go like this. It's a beautiful day outside!”

Ziggy was relieved when he walked out the door because he certainly did not enjoy being in the middle of Stingy and Trixie in that moment.

Stingy got the table ready to Stephanie's request. Trixie did not bother to help him , instead she helped Stephanie and Pixel cleaning things as they were being used. They had almost  finished the second smoothie when Ziggy and Milford came back. In the end Milford did help them cook the fritters, two for each. And the smoothies were going to give them so much energy for sure! Each and every one of them different, made with different flavors from different fruits! Mango, berry, mandarin, banana, kiwi, and tapioca pearls.

While eating breakfast things calmed down a bit between Stingy and Trixie but she was still angry at him, he'll have to make it up to her.

“I'll have to go to the office until lunch time, I'll leave you some money if you want to get some food" Milford spoke, "that is if you get hungry before I get home.”

"Okay uncle! Good luck!"

The kids said goodbye to Milford and continued to eat breakfast. 

Two floors above them Jives was sitting down having breakfast with his mom. It was such a strange sight in the eyes of the boy’s mother, to see him awake at such hour on a Saturday, and not only that, but having a breakfast that not only consisted on cereal. That was partly because she had prepared him some fried eggs to go with last night’s potato scones while he got dressed, but still. To put it in one word she’d say Jives was enthusiastic about this new job he got, and although she wasn’t convinced it was a good idea at first, that morning she found herself ready to encourage her son to have a good day at work. 

More than a job it had become a nice pastime for Jives, one for which he got paid to do! Not much in money but lots in knowledge. He was learning about the plants and flowers’ care and just a bit of customer service.

“Today I get to learn about this little plant called Sweet Alyssum” He said while chomping on the potato scones. “Did you know they were once used to cure rabies?”   
“That’s... interesting” she replied, thinking about it. “I don’t have to water the cactus today, right?” 

“No, mom. Once a week. And keep it in the sun.” He told her, “Did you put extra butter on this? Because it tastes great.”

She smiled, “Yes. You get here at 12, right?”

“Yes” He drank a glass of juice and with that he had finished his breakfast. 

The lanky boy got up from his chair and rushed to one of the kitchen’s cabinets from where he got a box of cereals, he was taking some with him to work.

His mom hadn’t finished her tea yet and was about to turn the TV when her son said goodbye to her. Bag of cereal in hand, well placed beanie, he kissed his mother on the cheek and she tried to ruffle his hair under that beanie which made them both laugh. She wished him a happy day at work and he was on his way. 

It was a hot day compared to the ones before and Ella was having none of it. She had decided she was staying inside during the whole day since the moment she opened her eyes. She had thought of the excuses she would give when asked to go outside, she wouldn't do it not even if it was to get food, she’d rather have a lazy Saturday with the fan on her face and the TV on. These plans, however, were ruined when the intercom made a sound. She was alone at that hour, it was 11am and Flobby was working until 1pm, and Uncle Bobby was at the store until 12pm. Whoever rang was probably looking for Flobby since the apartment was his. Needless to say, she was annoyed. Even more so when the voice coming from the other end was asking her if she wanted to go outside. 

“No, thanks for the offer, but I pass” she said.

“Aw okay, but if you get bored the offer totally still stands!” Jives said.

Jives had a boring day ahead, he wanted to do something after he got out of the flower shop, maybe go skating at the park, the weather was great for that. Or maybe just stuffing some ice cream in his face while watching some movies with a friend, except he didn’t know who, Pixel and the rest of the gang were busy that day, Chance was also busy that day, so he thought of asking Rottenella, which now seemed like an absurd idea after hearing the tone of her voice. 

_‘Out of boredom come the worst ideas, I guess’_  he thought to himself.

“I don’t think I’ll get bored enough to want to hang out. Also, shouldn’t you be at the store?”

“I just came from there, your uncle asked me to tell you something. What was it?”

“Couldn’t he just send a text like a normal person?” Jives heard her even though she said that while covering the intercom on her end.

“But you never check your phone...” He grumbled “So what would be the point doing in that?”

An awkward silence settled over them, Jives stared at his shoes. He was getting a little bit annoyed at her attitudes, and even though he knew he shouldn’t have said that, it was as if he couldn’t help it. Her end was silent and it was driving him mad because he felt as if time was frozen and it was all his fault. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”

She resented his comment.  _What did he know? How could he possibly understand?_

“I have my reasons to not check my phone, you know that.” She said.

“I actually don’t know that.” He replied. “I mean, I kinda do... But you never say anything.”

Over the past few days they’d worked together, he mostly took care of the plants and she would stay at the front, barely exchanging words. They’d mostly talk about what music they wanted to listen while they were there and the rest would be silence.

Soon she wouldn’t even need to go to the store, soon she would be able to go back to her ballet classes and as much as that was a joy for her she felt a little jealous and a little sad about it.

“I shouldn’t have to, you’ve already noticed.” She spoke, “What did my uncle want?”

“Uh, something about a movie?” He told her.

“He just sent you here to ask about movie night?” She frowned.

“It’s been a quiet day, not much to do yet.” 

“I see...” She sighed, “Fine, tell him we’ll decide when he gets here. Thank you for coming, bye.”   
She hang up.

_‘I guess I’ll just stay at home then...’_ Jives thought as he walked back to the store.

“Why are all of my friends busy today?” He kicked a stone all along the way.

Robbie woke up around 4pm, thankfully in a good mood because he was awake because  _he_  wanted to be awake. He went to the kitchen and put the bacon gruyere pie he bought on the microwave. As his meal heated he went to the bathroom and washed his face. 

He ate his meal calmly until he saw his suit on the hanger beside his bedroom door, it had been delivered to him yesterday right after he got home from the Doormey Theater. Then he remembered. He was supposed to leave earlier for the event. He hadn’t told the rest. 

He grabbed his phone from his nightstand and texted Sportacus, he also saw that he had a few unread messages. Right after that he started to get ready to leave.

 

The kids received the news from Sportacus and everyone started to get ready for the night. When Stingy saw Trixie fully changed he sighed loudly. 

“Are you really wearing sneakers with a suit?” He said inspecting her outfit.

“Let’s just get this over with before I have to punch you, please?”

“Okay, just try to follow what I do.”

He stood in front of her. “Put the tie on your neck facing up but make one side shorter than the other... Now grab the long side and cross it with the other like this...”

And so, they did.

“Now the long side has to go under and up... Then you roll the short side like this, to make the bow area, see? In the middle of that you need to pass the long side and fold it towards yourself... You pinch it and push that end through here, see? Behind the short side...”

And that’s when Trixie got lost. 

“No, no! You need to-” 

“Like this?” Trixie asked.

“No, like this!” Stingy said.

“Like this?” Trixie didn’t do it right.

Stingy walked towards her, “Here, let me do it for you.”

He did it with perfect precision. "You really don't know how to make a bowtie, don't you?" 

She frowned at him as he pulled on the folded parts to tighten the bow. 

“If you forgive me for what happened this morning I might let you borrow one of my old bowties...” He spoke with trepidation. 

She smiled cunningly.

“Don’t tell anyone... But the first ones I got are the kind they’re already tied...” He confessed.

She laughed loudly.

“Hey! don’t laugh!” Stingy howled, yet he started laughing too though he didn’t quite understand why.

Everyone was essentially ready in a matter of minutes, though they kept running around trying their best to look their best. 

Ziggy and Pixel were planning their strategy to get Chef Pablo Fantástico’s autograph, Stephanie joined in too. Stingy and Trixie were talking about suits and making silly jokes.

Sportacus, who had already told them that they had to go down to the garage in ten minutes was on his way there himself.

When he got there Robbie turned to look at him. 

“Is that you Sportaflop?” he said jokingly. He was impressed, he did a good job tailoring his suit. 

Sportacus laughed softly and walked towards him. “You look good too, Robbie.”

As soon as he said that, Robbie’s gaze slid back to the floor. He was honestly struck by the man’s good looks.

“My keys fell under the car” Robbie explained. 

“You will drive us?” Sportacus asked, getting down to help him look for the keys.

“Why did you think I called you down here? To call a cab?” Robbie huffed.

“Ah, here, Robbie! I found them. I didn’t even know you had a car.” Sportacus said passing him the keys.

“Yeah I never use it.” Robbie took the keys.

“Now we just need to wait for those brats...” He said as he removed the cover from his car. “That Farabella guy decided we don’t get a limousine to pick us up.”

“Oh?” Sportacus turned around to face the car and Robbie.

Robbie laughed "He thinks that just because we don't get a limo we won't go in style. We'll see about that."

Sportacus’ eyes widened. "A Rolls Royce?"

"Told you I had money.” Robbie coughed a bit because of the dust from the cover. “That's why dad went after mom. A real charmer. Rich too, but not legally. Mom's lawyers made sure love wouldn't get the best of her. Otherwise she might've just given him her money..." 

"What...?”

“Sorry, nevermind that.” Robbie said as he rested his head on the roof of the car.

Sportacus moved to stand next to him. They waited in silence. Robbie felt too conscious about Sportacus being beside him, their arms almost touching. He tried to ignore that.

The kids arrived not long after, accompanied by Milford.

“Well, it was about time!” Robbie said getting on the driver’s seat.

“You don’t like it when we run, Robbie!” Stephanie said as she hugged her uncle goodbye and ran towards the car.

“Yet you do it now...” Robbie frowned.

“Are my eyes deceiving me... or is this the Rolls Royce’s Phantom?” Stingy gasped. “It is!” 

Stingy walked around the car as the rest of the kids got in it. “Xenon headlights, stainless steel, the double Rs!”

“Kid, we don’t have all day.” Robbie told him.

And so, Stingy got in the car, absolutely pleased, and they left the building with happy grins.


End file.
